


Phantom strings

by Ya_pal_janet



Category: Persona 2, Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actual Phantom Thieves (Persona 5), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, akira adopts half of tokyo as his family, akira is a tease, goro is just a normal detective, just a bunch of dumb kids doing crime, makoto is less of a bitch, real phantom thief au, tatsujun parents, yu and minato are akira's brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24169555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ya_pal_janet/pseuds/Ya_pal_janet
Summary: Goro Akechi is a detective who was just given the most annoying case of his life, a case with no leads and dead ends. If being handed the case as joke wasn't an insult enough, it seems the leader of these crimes has taken a liking to screwing with Goro.With conspiracies surrounding a band by the same name as the group of degenerate thieves, Goro's been given the case of a life time, and a major head ache. will he find the perpetrator? or just more dead ends? find out on the next episode of phantom strings!
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurosu Jun/Suou Tatsuya, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru, Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 26
Kudos: 149





	1. walk you home

**Author's Note:**

> hello there! This is a band au and real thief au for persona 5
> 
> The the second chapter won't be here for a while, because i'm finishing up online classes and moving forward into uncharted territory with every thing going on at the moment. But i am working on it's rough draft so the wait shouldn't be terrible!  
> Some of the relationships in the tags won't be mentioned until later and the rating of this might change, but other than that enjoy!

Goro Akechi had recently been given the task of an extremely troublesome case that had been open for about a year, and still left unsolved. He figured the main reason was that the higher-ups of the force were sick of dealing with it, so they handed it down to him. And to be frank, he was hoping to do the same, but given that he was a rookie detective working with the force the likelihood of him getting out of it was slim. At least he had Nijima working with him, which was somewhat of a relief because Nijima was the only other officer he knew particularly well.

The case itself was a string of mysterious thefts with hardly any evidence that the crimes had occurred in the first place. Lucky enough for him the group behind the robberies is quite showy, to say the least. The group called themselves the phantom thieves, and it seemed they enjoyed having the spotlight on them. 

To name a few instances, they would leave calling cards at the scene of their crimes, twice they had “decorated’’ the crime scene during the winter, and more than once had tampered with the security cameras to play a video of their mascot in a police outfit running in circles. Never mind the teasing notes from the leader with such fun phrases as “better luck next time” and “lovely work you’re doing out there”. 

It was aggravating to know that these thieves were mocking him and his work because he already knew if the case was handed to him, it had little hope of being solved.

The thefts had only started occurring near the middle of December, but it’s already October and most of his superiors had given up. Why wouldn’t they, these were perfect crimes with no evidence with jeering messages attached.

If the whole phantom thief crimes weren’t odd enough, there is a band that goes by the same name. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts are a fairly new Japanese rock band that started only a few months before the robberies. This of course made the internet go wild with conspiracy theories. 

Of course, the police force had looked into them, but the worst thing that they could find “criminal” about any of the members was that one member had an assault charge from a couple of years ago. The police decided they weren’t involved, and that they were just some college band with a name worth taking. Which was annoying enough given the fact they didn’t even interrogate them.

Well, his superiors might have decided that, but Goro Akechi certainly did not. He thought it was just too much of a convenience to be true. The band was already a fairly large group, having two guitarists, a drummer, two stagehands who make most of their props and presentations, and two others who would bring in extra instruments on a whim. All in all a decently sized group that had a wide variety of talents. Goro wouldn’t put it past them to at least know how to perform a robbery. 

That’s why he had decided to go to one of their shows, maybe he could get a feel of what the band is really like and not just an online bio of each of the members. A real investigation and not just a quick google search. Were his superiors that incompetent?

\-----

It’s a Friday night in October a brisk wind blows past already chilling the cool autumn air, Akechi is thankful for it though. He’s not sure how to dress for one of these shows, so his jacket acts as a security blanket to defend him from any judgemental glares. Nijima is standing at the entrance busying herself on whatever's on her phone. She looks up and sends Goro a small wave with the flick of her wrist. She was dressed in one of her more casual blouses and a set of pants. She looked a bit overdressed for the situation, but who was he to judge she was still a great bit more fashionable than himself. She slowly walked to the door opening it and stepping in.

The entrance wasn’t terrible, although there was a heavy smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke that immediately wafted into Goro’s face and was not a pleasant combination of smells. Taking a step up to the ticket booth Niijima showed the barcode on her phone to the man working there, which allowed both of them to proceed into the venue.

If Goro thought the entrance had smelt bad he was most definitely not ready for the rest of the area. It smelled wretched, alcohol, cigarettes, and sweat filled the air along with the bright lights and neon signs that seemed to point everywhere. Without a doubt, Goro would have a headache by the end of this. Before he could decide against his original plan the opening act had just finished, they didn’t sound particularly good for the few minutes Goro had been there but the loud applause from a couple of screaming drunks said otherwise.

Sae had settled into a booth and had gotten out her phone and a notepad. Goro assumed she would be taking notes on the behaviors of the band and anything they say during Goro’s speed investigation, and wasn’t here to enjoy the music. But Goro would have to agree with her on the music bit of it, he was here for work despite the setting.

“Niijima-san, I take it you’re not a fan of rock?”Goro asked, mainly to have something to focus on other than the bright neon signs.

“Afraid not, I'm more into the classical side of things. Also, I told you just to call me Sae for now since we’re working as partners.” She wasn’t wrong; she had asked him to stop being so formal with her all the time, but it always seemed to slip his mind.

“Ah, my apologies, but I can’t say I am a fan of it myself, but I’ve heard people say that this group likes to mix it up and add orchestral instruments from time to time”. Which he knew was true the two others that came in with the different instruments mainly focused on grand piano and flute. Which honestly were weird ones to throw into a rock song, but hey maybe they’re trying to be alternative, Goro’s not very sure what that means in the musical sense, but he can assume.

Before they can continue on their brief conversation, an announcer with bright orange hair steps on the stage. She can’t be older than a third-year student in high school given her height and stature. She’s wearing an oversized jacket around a black and neon green jumpsuit with a hefty pair of goggles on her head. She has to stand on her toes to reach the mic. 

“Alright, everybody! Are you ready for your hearts to be stolen? Because I present to you The Phantom Thieves Of Hearts!!!”

The girl was shouting her lungs out which made it difficult to understand with the pounding in his head, but he made note of what she said anyway. Stealing hearts was a motif shared between the band and the thieves. She quickly ran backstage and not a moment later did a spectacle of lights unfold to reveal an over the top looking band and their music began to play.

It’s loud, but it's not bad. There’s a healthy amount of drums and guitar in the mix, it would appear the two ‘extras” don't seem to be on stage currently. The lead singer has a deep voice that doesn’t seem to slur the words of the song. Although rock music isn’t his taste he has to admit that this band deserves the praise.

There are two blondes on the stage. One is in a full-body red latex jumpsuit with a nearly full face cat mask, her two long blonde ponytails bouncing as she goes to town on her bass. The other blond is sporting a buzz cut and a halfway skull mask, he’s also wearing a leather pirate costume. But the real show stopper has to be the lead singer. Unruly black hair covers his head like a mop, he’s dressed in a more formal attire that keeps with the monochromatic scheme and wears a white domino mask. Despite all the noise from the venue and other instruments on stage his guitar and voice seem to carry out into every corner of-

“GORO!” Sae’s raised voice cuts across his train of thought and brings him back down from whatever second dimension he was in.

“Sorry, I got distracted for a moment.” Sae sends him a look.

“Sure you were. anyway like I was saying earlier, when I told Makoto I was going to a concert for work I asked if she wanted to come since she’s been getting into the music scene as of late, she seemed very excited that I had invited her out, but something came up and she’s spending the night at her girlfriend’s place.”

“If I recall correctly you’ve mentioned your younger sister enjoying this type of music before?” It’s small talk really but anything to keep his head from trailing off into space again will probably be best.

“yes, I suppose, but she’s always had an interest in music though. In high school, she took piano and cello lessons to blow off some anger. I was quite proud to see her channel that energy into something productive rather than destructive. Speaking of which, do you play anything?”

“Ah, I’m afraid not, I just couldn’t find the time for it during high school with being a part-time detective and all.” It’s not like there was never an interest, just never the time, and it wasn’t like the boy’s home had the money for lessons. Now he just doesn’t see the point given his line of work.

It would have appeared as though the first song had ended and out stepped one of the extras. She was the shortest out of the bunch on stage and wore an almost musketeer ESC outfit, a black mask covered her face and a hat and short bouncy hair covered the rest of her head. She carried a flute with her and stood near the girl in the catsuit.

“It would seem as though one of the extra instrument players is on, to say the least, I'm curious about how they blend the rock and classical.” small talk again but it’s a good distraction as he finds his eyes wandering back to the lead singer. Something about the way he holds himself or the confidence he seems to radiate pulls Goro in like a moth to a flame.

“Given the last song I’m pretty excited about this one myself.” They both know they’re here for work, but the main job comes after the show, so he can’t blame her for wanting to enjoy this for a little bit.

The pounding in his head is unpleasant, to say the least, it’s quickly getting to a point where he wants to go grab a drink for himself so he can numb it, but he does not want to make a fool out of himself even if he’s only tipsy, and the headache from that in the morning is undoubtedly worse than this.

\---  
The last couple of songs seem to pass with no issues, and Goro’s headache only gets slightly worse. The show finished a few minutes ago, which means he’d have to step into action soon. 

After doing a brief google search he found a couple of reviews of past shows saying that they (the people writing the article) got to chat with the lead singer. From what he gathered the rest of the crew would head home while the lead liked to mingle with the crowd. Surprisingly this seemed to be the case for all the shows he found the reviews on. Although he had to filter through the fanboys and fangirls for about half an hour before he found some decent information.

All he would have to do is put on an overly pleasant attitude and ask a few indiscreet questions and then start digging a little deeper into investigation territory. He’s done it before so he’s not too worried about this.  
And lucky him it would appear he wouldn’t need to even get up as the lead himself walks towards their booth.  
\--  
Before the group even gets to the venue to set up Makoto’s panic levels were through the roof. It’s not uncommon for her to get overbearing, but this seemed to be pure stress.

“But what if she sees me?!” Makoto almost screams. Akira has been tuning most of it out as best he can, it’s not easy listening to people’s problems and driving at the same time.

“Hm, I’m pretty sure the whole purpose of the mask is to prevent people from seeing you” Yusuke comments looking out the window trying to focus on the trees outside while they're stuck in traffic.

From what Akira can piece together from the situation is, Makoto’s sister was going to a concert for work, Makoto originally thought this meant to go out with friends but turns out she’s investigating something, and at the last minute Makoto realized that show she was talking about was the very show she was performing. Akira thinks she said she found out from the pictures of the venue her sister emailed her. Haru was covering for her though, saying she could spend the night at her place after the show.

And so currently Makoto’s sister thinks Makoto is at Haru’s. Makoto is panicking because she’s afraid her sister will spot her and try to interrogate her on why she’s in a band, one suspected of robbery nonetheless. 

“Your bit is only piano parts in the songs we picked right?”Akira questions, trying to keep his eyes on the road while driving a van full of college kids to a venue still 30 minutes away.

“Yes.,” Makoto responds quickly.

“The venue has a bit of backstage area, we could probably set up the piano back there and Futaba can screw around with the sound a bit so it can still be heard, so you don't have to be on stage”

Futaba sends a thumbs up and goes back to playing smash bros on her switch.

“That could work,” Makoto says as she’s finally calmed down a bit. “I'm pretty sure the piano there was electric, so I hope it won’t be too hard for Futaba.”

“Easy peasy, actually it’s about as easy as distracting Inari with food!” Futaba still hasn’t looked up from her switch. Which would most likely be the case for most of the evening.

“I’ll choose to ignore that last statement” Yusuke responds coldly to Futaba’s previous jab.

“Believe what you will, Inari, but she has a point. You seriously need to eat more man. Like a small gust of wind and you’ll blow away,” Ryuji says jokingly.

“Ryuji, give him some credit. He at least can handle a good shove now.” Ann chimes in.  
“I can’t believe I chose you, people, out of the entirety of Tokyo, to associate with,” Yusuke says sarcastically.   
\---  
The Phantom Thieves of Heart were a more recent band made up of a bunch of college students who knew each other in high school. By the end of high school the group realized that they could create music, which to be fair they could have realized that a bit sooner but this group collectively shares 3 brain cells at most, so probably not.

Akira was dubbed lead singer after Futaba had recorded him singing in Leblanc with one of her bugs and sent it to the group chat. After a good amount of pestering from the group, he had finally succumbed to their peer pressure. 

Futaba had set up their first show and filmed them and posted it to the internet. After a while, they slowly started growing a small fan base. And now with a year and a half of experience, they finally started to take off. 

Well, maybe not entirely from internet fans. With the rise of the phantom thieves, the ones that had been committing vigilante crimes in the name of justice, their band had gained a hefty amount of recognition from conspiracy theories. When people go to get info for their theories they are bound to end up listening to some of their music.

But unfortunately for them, conspiracy theories led the cops to get involved. Futaba being the overly skilled hacker and band manager she is made sure the cops found nothing. 

It seems, however, the investigation team hadn’t given yet. Thanks to Makoto’s little insight that her sister would be at their show tonight Akira knew what he needed to do. 

It’s a pretty well-known fact that after the show he just likes to chat and walk around with the rest of the audience for fun, but now that a prosecutor who is investigating his case would be here, he figures a little mischief couldn’t hurt.

So yes he planned to go up to her by the end of the show, get chatting and bring up the thieves and find out what she knows.

\----  
After the show

“So was she out there?’’ Makoto questioned wearily.

“Yep, she was. I'll tell you when she leaves later so you’ll be in the clear. Although you didn’t mention anything about the cute guy she’s with,” The two of them stuck out like sore thumbs even when they were tucked away in a small booth in the back.

“What? Wait, describe him to me.” Makoto sounded confused as though she hadn’t expected her sister to be here with anyone else.

“Um, let’s see a button-up shirt, khaki pants, fair skin, medium-length chestnut hair, and a cute face.” ok so maybe that last bit was a little much, but Akira is a bisexual disaster who can admit when he sees a hot guy.

“Akechi?’’ Makoto’s answer seemed to be a mix of confusion and judgment on Akira’s taste.

“Hm?’’ Akira retorts Makoto’s last statement mainly out of curiosity though.

“ He worked as a part-timer for my sister as an assistant detective in high school, and once he got into a college they gave him a full-time job. We all go out together for food at the end of the month, he’s like a brother to me at this point”.

“ Oh, I think I’ve heard of him before. During our second and third year of high school, there were always some rumors going around in the subway that there was this kid detective who put this politician in jail in only two months after working with the SIU.” Ann said nonchalantly while eating a box of pocky already changed out of her catsuit.

“Dude, please tell me you’re not going to go flirt with a detective clearly investigating us.” Ryuji has a point; he probably shouldn’t try to chat up a detective, since when has Akira done what he was supposed to? 

\--  
So he stepped out from behind the stage, did a brief mingle through the crowd, and slowly started to make his way towards the back. Ever since high school, he’s noticed just how well he can blend into crowds if he tries hard enough. When he gets a bit closer he gets a better look at the too overdressed investigators.

Makoto’s sister has silver hair and is dressed a bit more business than casual, she only looks a couple of years older than Akira. Sitting across from her is a boy about his age with nearly shoulder-length hair that has a warm chestnut color. He’s wearing just a simple button-up shirt and is looking at him with deep crimson eyes. If he’s being honest he could pass as Makoto’s brother if he tried.

“I couldn’t help but notice, but you two look a bit out of place for a rock show.” He says this coyly so he can come off snarky and a bit arrogant. This mask of his allows for some snarky banter that has been tested to at least gain some interest from the other party.

“Ah, I’m afraid you're right. I’m not used to outings like this so I'm a bit clueless on how to dress,” he responds to Akira’s statement with an almost pathetic smile. (god that’s cute)

“I guess I'm the one to blame for that since I only gave him the information about the venue last minute.” Makoto's sister responds to Akechi’s comment.

“ I haven't seen you two at our last couple of shows, so I take it this is your first one?’’ 

“Yes, you’d be correct. I had heard some rumors about your group online and I was interested and I was able to find out that you had a show here.” Akira knew this was cover, he knew he was a detective and probably looked for a show to get information. These two are dangerous, something about that draws him closer.

“So did we live up to expectations?”

“Well, I suppose so, I can say for certain that the praise you’ve earned is well earned.” he smiles at that, it’s a fake smile but Akira doesn’t pay it any mind. “Although this isn’t the style of music I would normally be listening to.”

“Oh, and what's the style you’re into?’’ he asks in a snide voice

“Jazz I suppose,” he responds cooly.

“You suppose?’’ Akira can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“Well, I’m glad to hear we live up to our name.” he is trying to steer this conversation towards the other form of Phantom Thieves, and he’s just waiting for this detective to take the bait.

“Speaking of your name” Perfect “I’ve heard some nasty rumors about your band being tied to that group of robbers.” 

“Oh yeah, it’s probably best if you ignore those. We weren’t really sure about it ourselves when the rumors started, but we really have no clue about it. They took our name, and now everybody thinks we’re behind it, but hey it’s brought in more attention if that’s something.” he’s trying to pass it off as not a big deal as he scratches the back of his head. He’s pretty sure if he stays calm and not bothered this detective might lay off.

“Well, I’m glad the rumors aren’t getting to you, though it might not be the same case for other people, at least you’re level headed about it.” Akira’s not really sure how great of a compliment that is, but it definitely sends a little buzz towards his heart. He really needs to stop falling for every hot person he sees

While Akira is currently trying to keep cool and not try to flirt it up with a detective, Makoto's sister gets up from her seat.

“If you’ll excuse me I have to answer this call from work,” she says nonchalantly as she starts walking towards the door.

“By the way, I don’t think I caught your name?’’ He already knows his name, but he thinks it’s better to ask than to just know his name from Makoto.

“You never asked, it’s Goro Akechi, and my friend who just stepped out is Sae Nijima.”  
“I’m Akira Kurusu, but I assume you found that out in some of the rumors online.”  
“You’d be correct.” he gives another small fake smile but Akira doesn’t really mind too much since he’s probably shared a few as well.

“Hey do you mind if I get your contact info, I usually would like to stay and chat longer, but I’ve got somewhere to go soon.” he mainly just wants his number so he can talk with a cute guy, but he could defend himself to the rest of the group saying he just wants to get info from him.

“Oh, sure that’s no trouble at all.” 

And with that Akira got the phone number of a pretty detective who is most likely investigating him and his group of friends for various crimes. But he only gets in trouble if he gets caught.


	2. untie you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is just a bit a filler and exposition for what happens after the show. it's mainly just to introduce some routines and characters into the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha ha, so you know how at the beginning of last chapter i said it might take a while for this to get here well, i lied.  
> i had forgotten how much of this chapter i already had done and i just stayed up pretty late to write the last little bit.  
> so here it is, but just stick with the idea that the third chapter won't be here till a bit

Akira exits through the front entrance and then circles back around the building to go to the back door where they had set up earlier. The van is still parked outside where he left it, it’s jet black and has a blue strip that wraps around.

He knocks on the back door and not a second later is greeted by Haru. She’s out of costume by now and is dressed in a light lavender sweater dress.

“Hello Akira,” she answers sweetly

“Hey there, can I come in? I got to get the equipment and Futaba in the van and back home,” he answers back in a laid back manner.

“Absolutely, would you like some help with it?’’ she asks, while Akira steps into the back room. Futaba has fallen asleep on a bean bag chair. Her long orange hair is flared everywhere making her look like some eldritch monster. Makoto is sitting astutely in a folding chair checking her phone. It looks like Morgana has stolen the last empty chair, which was probably Haru’s before she got up.

“No, I don't think it’s too much to pack up anyway, you and Makoto can head back to your place and I'll round up the cat and gremlin,” he responds jokingly with a light smile on his face. “No worries about your sister Makoto, she and the detective left a few minutes ago.”

“Thank you Akira,” she says in a relieved voice and gets up from her seat to grab her bag.

“Yeah, no problem. Hey, next time can you at least tell me when she brings a cute guy over. I was totally not prepared tonight.” he says sarcastically replacing the soft smile from earlier with a smirk.

“Akira, I swear to god,” she says exasperated and rolls her eyes. A loud meow can be heard from Morgana as if agreeing with her.

“Hey, who’s side are you on, cat?”Akira yells. This gets a small snicker out of Haru.

“I believe it’s about time we should be departing since the driver just got here. ” Haru says with a grin on her face. She and Makoto step outside while saying good-bye and walking to the parking lot.

Akira steps over to Futaba's bean bag and lightly shakes her awake. She slowly gets up while her mind adjusts back to being awake. Akira can hear little grumbles from her direction while he starts to pick up the supplies.

“So how’d flirting with that detective go?” her voice is still a little raspy from her nap.

“While I’m charmed you’re concerned about my love life, but since when were you interested?’’  
He asks snarkily.

“I got concerned the instant Makoto said he was a detective, that's like the opposite of what we want right now,” she responded, picking up a mic stand “and you kept staring at him throughout the show.”

“Was not,”

“Don’t be moron you mop-headed romantic,”

“That’s a new one I’ll add it to the list of insults you make on the spot,”  
“Uhg, you’re insufferable, you know that,” she says, picking up the last bit of equipment and heading towards the van, while Akira holds the door for her.

They get everything loaded back into the van. Futaba has stretched herself out on the back row of seats. “Hey, you know the rules buckle up there missy<” Akira comments as a reminder that if anything happened to Futaba while under his care, he probably wouldn’t live long enough to see the next day on Sojiro’s behalf.

“Fine,” she says in a faked annoyed voice “And hey you never answered me.”

“Answered what?’’

“The question about how did flirting with the detective go, dummy.”

“One I didn't just go and flirt with a detective, I was trying to make sure they don’t know anything serious yet. Two I got his number”

“how on planet earth did you manage that?! Wait, nevermind I'll just check the bug on your phone later.” She looks like she’s melting in the back seat, sprawled out as far as the seat belt will allow. Akira swears her bones were replaced with jello.

“Ok, one, last time I checked invasion of privacy was illegal. Two there’s no need for that because I can just tell you I won him over with my sexy charm,” he says jokingly.

“As if, the last time you tried “charming” someone they nearly spat out their drink on you!”

“But, you have to admit I wouldn't look half bad with that girl's coffee spat on me”.

“Ughh, Akira you complete an absolute fool,” she says while rubbing her temple.

“I may be a fool, but at least I don't look like an inkling,” Morgana sends another loud meow in his direction.

“Kitty you traitor!” Futaba said as she scooped him up in her arms as he tried to wiggle free.   
\--

When they finally get back to Yogen-Jaya, Futaba is passed out again in the back seat, Morgana curled up in her lap forgiven for the inkling comment. Akira goes back to wake her up again, it doesn’t seem to work so he tries again, and again. Defeated Akira unbuckles her from her seatbelt prison and slings her partly over his shoulder. With this Futaba wakes up, ungracefully kicking at Akira to drop her.

And at her request Akira drops her, she ends up landing on all fours, which helps add to Akira’s theory that she’s part wild animal or gremlin.

“Oi, you couldn’t have done anything else to wake me?!” her face clearly agitated as she wobbles back onto her feet.

“Well, I could have but this seemed to be the more enjoyable version from my options,” Akira responds sarcastically. “Anyways, you might want to head on in, Sojiro expects you to be home right about now,” he says while ruffling her long orange hair, which she never brushes but it stays straight nonetheless, unlike Akira’s mop.

“Night night to Akira then, the fool instantly wooed by the first pretty boy he sees,” she says dramatically, probably mimicking Yusuke.

“Just go to bed you goblin,” and with that Futaba walked back into her house. Akira steps back into his van, Morgana laying in the passenger seat. Akira personally enjoys taking the subway trains or just walking places, but with all the band equipment the group decided a van was necessary.

By the time Akira gets back to his flat, he’s exhausted. He runs a cold shower to wake him up a bit more. While he’s drenching himself in the cold water he lets his mind wander back to the detective from earlier that night. After seeing the fake plastic smiles he can’t help but want to see what one of his genuine smiles would look like.

Akira can feel himself blush when his face heats up, and it’s obviously not from his shower. He quickly runs his hands across his face and turns off the water. He steps out onto the cold bathroom tile and gets dressed in his sleep clothes.

Morgana has curled up on his bed on top of one of his sweaters and seems at peace in his fifth catnap of the day.

Akira lays down on his bed and opens up his phone to browse his social media. It seems Futaba has already posted a video of tonight’s show as well as a plentiful amount of photos.  
They seem to have already racked up a decent amount of likes. The comments are already starting to fill up with conspiracy theories.

Akira decides to send a message to Akechi  
\---  
(3:25) Me: Hey this is Akira from the show.  
(3;28) Akechi: Hello this is Akechi.  
\--  
Well, Akira is a bit relieved that he didn't get a fake number, but it seems the detective texts are fairly formal. Although he’s a bit surprised that he’s up this late, Akira himself probably shouldn’t be up this late.

(3:30) Me: Isn’t it a bit late for you to be up?  
(3:33) Akechi: I could say the same for you, but actually my job is a bit demanding at times and I get roped in and lose track of time.   
(3:35) Me: If you don’t mind me asking what is your job?  
(3: 38) Akechi: I’ve been trying to get a job as a private investigator, but currently I am just working as a rookie detective since I worked part-time in high school.

His story seems to match the description Makoto gave earlier. Being a detective had crossed Akira’s brain before he was shipped out to Tokyo since his dad and brother both joined the force. He feels a quick ping of guilt for not speaking to either of them recently, but they really made an effort either. He makes a mental note to at least text Yu, later. He’s quickly pulled out of his headspace when he hears the usual ding notification of a text.

(3:41) Akechi: Actually since you’re still here do you mind telling me more of your opinion on the phantom thieves and the conspiracy tied to your band?

(3:44) Me: An interrogation over text detective? Seems oddly unprofessional for someone in your line of work.

(3:46) Akechi: Ah, my apologies I didn’t mean for this to come across as an interrogation, I merely am looking for a different opinion than the mainly negative ones around the office.

(3:47) Me: Well for starters I don’t think they’re intentionally bad, or have bad intentions, because the reports say anything that was stolen was returned to the original owner of the item.

(3;49) Akechi: Ah, I see, you’re referring to the fact they steal items that had already been stolen, and return them to the original owner, almost like modern-day robin hoods. If I’m being honest that’s the part of this whole thing that makes me question their intentions.

(3:51) Akira: so I wouldn’t be going on a limb if I said you don’t think their motivations are good but don’t agree with the way they get things done?

(3;52) Akechi: Well I supposed that’s a way to put it.

(3:54) Akechi: Well Kurusu I have to thank you for the new view on this. It’s actually been a while since I’ve been able to talk directly about my opinion on this without getting shut up immediately.

(3:55) me: Hey, it’s no problem, anytime. But you should probably get some sleep detective-Kun.

Akira thinks he sounds like Morgana if he could talk, throughout high school that cat would bug him until he went to sleep. To be fair it prevented him from being a sleep-deprived zombie throughout high school, so that's something.

\------

Goro shouldn’t be up this late, it’s four in the morning and he got back from the show three hours ago, but if it meant getting to talk with a suspect so more he wasn’t against it. Even over text it seemed Kurusu was willing to talk about the phantom thieves, but texting wasn’t always concrete evidence, so Goro won’t take it at face value.

What Goro wasn’t expecting was just how easy it was to share his opinion with him and actually get an intelligent response back. Most of the time when he brought it up in the office his superiors just told him they were just some cocky criminals causing problems. But Goro really didn’t have much hope at the start of all of this that his superiors would be open-minded.

He should probably get to bed unless he wants to waste away an entire Saturday. He goes and changes in his bathroom. His apartment isn’t anything impressive but he can be glad that he has a small shower instead of having to walk to a bathhouse every time he wants to bathe.

\----  
Goro wakes up around ten-thirty in the morning to the usual sound of chirps, coos, and caws from the dove and crow that like to sit outside his window. He slowly grudges over to the little balcony where the two of them perched on the railing. 

When the birds first started to show up Goro was more annoyed than anything. The loud caws from the crow and the constant coos from the dove were enough to drive him mad. But after a bit of time, he slowly got used to them and came around. He had recently bought a bird feeder for the two of them and gave both of them a nickname, the dove was Robin hood and the crow was Loki.

He steps back inside and makes himself a cup of coffee. Checking his phone he doesn’t see any new messages. He decides to make use of his day by filling through all the reports that cover the phantom thieves. The phantom thieves not only stool items but also information. In some cases, it was just information.   
One of the first appearances of the phantom thieves was when they had leaked information about a high school coach abusing his students.

To say Goro was disgusted with this man was an understatement, but this did lead his mind to wander back to the school. If the phantom thieves were a group of people they had to have someone at Shujin know about the abuse going on there. He makes a note for later to look into the students and ask about how public the information about the abuse was before Kamoshida’s arrest. 

Another particularly annoying bit about this case was that the thieves were never caught on camera, ever. It would be one thing if they just avoided the cameras, but no, all the cameras were completely shut down leaving no footage of the scene, and if they were feeling particularly cocky they would even leave a fun little video with a chibi cat on it. As much as Goro thinks their intentions are good, solving this case would be a pain in the ass.

\---

Akira slept for a good amount of the day until Morgana was practically screaming for his food. After the usual morning sluggishness, he remembers his mental note to send a text to his brother.

(12:34) Me: Good morning, I know it’s been a while since we talked But would you be free the next weekend?

(12;36) Yu: One Akira, it’s the afternoon, and yes Yosuke and I were planning on coming over soon anyway just to check Tokyo out. We just hadn’t figured out a date for when. 

(12:38) Me: ok that sounds great I could round up my group of halogens and show around Tokyo

(12:39) Yu: I’ll be looking forward to it. 

Well now at least Akira has a plan for this week, besides school and work, round up the group and decide the places they want to show off to his brother and his “partner”. Actually, Akira sorta gets why Yosuke goes by partner instead of boyfriend, one he is Yu’s partner for crime scene investigation, and two it’s a layer of protection just in case they run into some ‘less than supportive people’. But given the fact that most of Akira’s friends are a part of the LGBTQ+ in some shape or size, they shouldn’t have a problem. 

Akira already starts making his list   
Leblanc  
Crossroads   
The small flower shop in the underground mall  
The arcade

It’s a small list but he knows that Sojiro and Lala-chan have heard some pretty interesting stories about Yu. If Ohya is at Crossroads he wants to see Yu’s reaction when she tells him about which certain reporter she works with. Actually thinking about aunt Maya makes the ping of guilt for not talking with his parents recently resurface. He makes another mental note and puts the guilt aside for now. 

But all in all, he’s pretty excited. He quickly shots a text to the group chat.

(12:45) me: I’ve told you guys about my brother right?  
(12:45) Ryuji: yep  
(12:46) Ann: you’ve mentioned him a couple of times before  
(12:46) Taba: yes  
(12:47) me: well he’s coming to Tokyo for a couple of days next week  
(12:48) Ryuji: sweet dude  
(12:48) Yusuke: wonderful  
(12:49) Ann: we can finally find out where you got your attitude from  
(12:50) Me: sorry there wrong brother all my attitude is natural or Minato’s influence  
(12:50) Yusuke: who is Minato  
(12:50) ann: his other brother  
(12:50) Taba: Since when did you have two brothers?!?!?!  
(12:51) Me: since always  
(12:51) Taba: >:|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, a comment, and criticism are always welcomed <3 and im just going to keep naming the chapters after Sir Chole songs. also it's been pouring buckets of rain, so i might been swimming with my laptop to the high ground :/


	3. Michelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello there,  
> This chapter is mainly exposition and filler, if you can't tell i'm stalling on writing Yu and Yosuke's bit since there's gonna be a whole lot of dialogue with a big group. And i'm also focusing on writing a big event that's coming, so this won't get updated till a bit again.

Another thing to add to the ongoing list of “annoying things about the Phantom Thieves case,” (which is a list Goro thought of making once he got through the baren case files for the 18th time this week) had to be that there wasn’t any DNA evidence they could look into. Many of the places they robbed were public places with an influx of people, rendering any hair, thumbprints, saliva, and any other DNA samples useless.

‘ we found thumbprints on the main exit door’ was not a particularly useful clue when hundreds of people open the door daily. This was all just adding to his growing hatred for this case, but he was trying to not let it get to him because he had to solve it, he had to prove that they couldn’t just hand him something and watch him give up on it. He had to be better than his superiors who just gave up because they got sick of it. He had to prove himself still even after all this time because he was still ‘just a rookie”

He’ll show them, like he always does, like every time before this.  
\----  
Akira’s Sunday plan had been to pick up Futaba and Sumi and take them to the arcade. The arcade had some new games installed two weeks ago and Futaba had been dying to set some high scores. 

Sumi was tagging along because she and Futaba had grown closer over the last two years, after Futaba had started school at Sujin, Sumi offered to help her adjust. Futaba and she managed to get the same homeroom two years in a row. She and Sumi would walk to school since Fytaba was still not comfortable with going on the subway alone.

A few months ago Futaba made the thrilling discovery that Sumi was great at DDR. Futaba slowly started to introduce more and more arcade games to Sumi, and they’ve become unstoppable. Akira is legitimately scared for the DDR floorboard after one of their matches.

He planned to pick up both of them at Leblanc and take them to the arcade since neither of them can drive. But once Akira stepped into Leblanc he was practically tackled by Futaba and her barrage of questions.

“Why didn't you tell me you had another brother!” She has this grumpy little pout that Akira can’t decide if it makes her look younger or more like a squished up elf.

“Why do you care so much?!?” Akira coughs out trying to regain his breath from just having the wind knocked out of him.

“Cause I’m practically your little sister, and I need to know about my other practically siblings so I can send stupid pictures of you to them!” she finishes with a huff

“Please tell me you haven’t been sending stuff to Yu.”

“You bet I have!” she smiles with a wicked grin peering up at Akira, for someone nearly half his height she can be quite intimidating.

“How did you even get his number?” he asks defeatedly

“You’re asking me, technological prodigy, daughter of Wakaba Ishiki, and then Gun About Campion, how I got in contact with my practical brother’s actual sibling?” she states rather sarcastically but over the top nonetheless. She’s probably still mimicking Yusuke. Akira has decided to stop asking questions and just give in to the fact that Futaba won’t give him an inch of privacy.

He can hear Haru chuckle in the back at Futaba's last remark. Haru had started working at Leblanc on the weekends as a part-timer to get more experience with running and managing a restaurant so she could take over her late father’s business. Sojiro had happily agreed to it saying that the more help he got around the place the better.

So with the experience of the several other little odd jobs Akira had, he showed Haru how to hold up the fort. Futaba and he worked weekdays, Akira in the morning since his classes weren’t till later and Futaba in the Afternoon after school. Sojiro’s been able to take more days off and spend more family time with Futaba.

“Hey, Haru how's it going?” he piped up so she could hear him from the back.

“Oh it’s been good so far Akira since there hasn’t been a terrible amount of customers yet,” she answers as she adds some potatoes to the batch of curry. 

“Great, hey, when my brother gets here next week do you think we could get him to try some of the food we were thinking of adding to the menu,”

“I mean most of the stuff we’re thinking of adding is cake and stuff, and I mean who doesn’t like cake?,” Futaba adds as she lays her head down onto the counter. 

“While you do have a point Futaba I do think having an unbiased opinion could be helpful, as long as your brother is willing, Akira,” She sends him a look that probably means ‘please, for the love of god do not force your brother to eat cakes for three hours’. But before he can protest he hears the sound of the door opening.

“Hello, there,” Sumire steps through Leblanc’s door ringing the bell on her way in. Even on her free days, she likes to dress in preppy outfits. Today she’s sporting an oversized sweater over a turtleneck and a knee-length skirt, it’s always a contrast to Futaba’s cargo pants and t-shirts and Akira’s more gothic look.

“Hey, hey Sumi!’’ Futaba springs up from her hunched over position “are you ready to destroy Akira in Featherman-R legends of space!” her hair is flying in numerous different directions and nearly smacks Akira across the face.

“Yes, I'm very excited for this match, if only Senpai had more practice he might be a worthy opponent.” She smiles cheekily while Haru giggles again.

“Oh come on I’m not that bad” Akira retorts and fakes offense to Sumi’s last statement.

\---  
The arcade is packed as usual for a Sunday afternoon, Futaba and Sumi have attracted a crowd, which is also not an unusual sight. The two redheads haven’t missed a single sign-on their current DDR level. Akira is filming the match to send to the group chat and Yu later.

Akira’s fairly good at DDR himself but is nothing compared to the two of them, to be honest, the only game he’s extraordinarily good at is Gun About and even then Futaba beat him in the championships by one point. Akira’s excuse is that he does not have time for becoming a video game junkie with school and work.

Speaking of work, after the DDR match is over Akira gets an email from the flower shop in the underground mall asking him to fill in today.  
\---

From the descriptions of the thieves Goro had collected from witnesses he could determine they were highly athletic, slinked around in the shadows then struck, and although they have never killed, were not opposed to knocking out people in their way. They weren’t necessarily silent given the reports, which is a bit confusing for a group of thieves, but he’ll put a pin in that.

Actually most of the witnesses were guards that had been knocked out and only caught a glimpse of the Thieves beforehand while they were trying to track down the noises they were making. It wasn’t a lot to go off of but it was slightly helpful. He needed a group of people who: 1. Were smart enough with technology to avoid camera’s 2. Athletic enough to be cased and not caught 3. Stealthy enough to avoid detection from guards and 4. Had enough strength and medical knowledge so they could knock a guard out without killing them.

He could have added “cocky enough to tease the local police department” but he felt that was childish so opted against it. While this list of criteria was helpful, Tokyo is a big city filled with various amounts of people who could fit this description. Before he could mull over this anymore his phone began ringing.

“Hello, this is Goro Akechi speaking,” he answers in that overly cheerful voice he pulls out of the mental box of different faces he wears.

“It’s Sae, Goro I have news,” she responds curtly, never one to sugarcoat.

“Then please do continue.”

“We found another calling card.” her voice is serious and gets her point across rather well.

“I’m not sure if I should be excited or upset, I’ll be at the station in fifteen minutes.”

“Good, see you then.” She hangs up after that.

With that Goro puts a pin in all of his work and theories, grabs his things for work and enough yen for the train fare, all while practically running out his front door.

\---  
“Do you think they’ve reported the calling card yet?” Futaba questions. They had left the arcade about thirty minutes ago and dropped Sumi off at her place.

“Given how paranoid this guy seems from our little investigation I bet he has,” Akira responded coolly. It’s actually a tactic they’ve been performing for a while, talk like you’re just having a normal conversation, don't whisper, don't yell, and don’t mention the thieves by name.

It definitely took some time for the tactic to sink in, but by now most of the group is pretty good at it. The calling card they sent was directed towards a CEO of a clothing company who had been abusing workers. Although sad to see it was nothing new for the group. They had been looking into him for a while, and yesterday evening they delivered the calling card directly on his desk. 

“I wonder if your pretty detective has already started on the case,” she replies with a smirk.

“Ok one we don’t know if he’s even covering this case or if he just knows about it, two we talked once he’s hardly ‘my pretty detective’,” he says while avoiding Futaba’s eyes.

“ We only talked once, my ass, Akira you do know I can see everything on your phone. Also, it seems like he knows more than he’s letting on, I could look into it,” she accentuates that last bit so Akira knows that she means rummage through another person’s privacy and records.

“I rather not, not yet at least. Since we don’t know his intentions or motives yet,”

“That’s fair, but just know if anything slightly sus happens I’ll be on it in an instant,” She adds with a quick nod.  
\--  
They arrived back at Leblanc a few minutes ago and are now sitting up in the attic. Futaba is playing animal crossing while Morgana sleeps in her lap. Akira’s setting up the instruments for Tuesday night practice. 

Once Akira had moved out then eventually came back, Sojiro was still letting the group use it as a get-together place. He started to allow band practices during after hours, and Tuesdays just happened to be the days’ everyone was free. So the attic and Akira’s van are now the holding place from equipment and instruments.

“Um hey, about earlier. I mean about Minato,” he starts up awkwardly after just blurting it out into the silence of the room.

“Yeah what about him?”

“The main reason I didn't really mention him, was because when I first came here I was in a shaky relationship with my family, and Minato’s distant as is so I just ignored it and never brought it up. The only family member of mine that I keep in contact with is Yu,” that’s putting it lightly, just barely touching the surface of family issues. It’s still good to admit it.

“I mean I get it, I think, bringing him up would just bring up the other problems, right?” Futaba says as she falls back onto the sofa.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what it feels like.”

“Then I think that’s ok at least you’re telling me now. My only question is, why did Ann know?”

“Honestly I’m not sure, I probably told her while drunk at one of our sleepovers,’ Akira answers with a breathy chuckle.

“Of course you did,” Futaba answered almost as Sojiro does. It’s funny to see the little similarities between them.

\----

The victim is an old greasy CEO. The calling card seems to indicate that the thieves are going to release information on the work environments of the employees, as well as return art that had been stolen. If Goro had to guess the stealing of the art would be taking place at the CEO’s house. 

The best course of action was to set up security there to catch the Thieves or at least observe them in the act. Goro isn’t too interested in helping out this sleazebag anyway and is more interested in the thieves. That's the main reason he’s here, he got called in because it’s related to the thieves not because some slimy old man is going to get robbed.

Goro didn’t like this guy from the start. He’s paranoid and chatty, he won’t let Goro get a word in without something to contradict it. He’s trying really hard not to seem annoyed but that’s rather difficult when someone is barking in his ear about how to do his job. To top it off he keeps eyeballing Sae like she's some shiny trophy to bet snatched up, it’s disgusting.

“The date on the calling card is for this Thursday,” Sae says to the general population of the room. At least the Thieves are polite enough to give them a date. Goro also finds it weird that they say when they’re going to commit a crime, but that’s hardly the weirdest thing about this case.

“We should have the security set up by then without problems,” Goro replies. It’s a late Sunday afternoon and they could get everything set up by Wednesday easily. Goro has the gut feeling of knowing that it probably won’t work, The thieves have evaded security before what's stopping them now?

\---  
It was later decided that Goro would be there on the night of the crime. Sae had been against it the last couple of times because they didn’t know how the thieves operated, and she didn’t want her partner to get hurt. She only agreed to it this time because Goro had promised not to interfere with them and just try to observe them in the act. They both know there’s no point in trying to stop the robbery, the thieves sent out a calling card claiming they had information on him they’re going to release it to the public no matter what, and this slimy old geezer is going to jail.

Goro isn't going to lie to himself by saying he’s not somewhat excited for Thursday. He’s been trying to figure out just how the thieves do it for a while now, and observing them might just answer a few of his questions about this godforsaken case. Sae’s still concerned about Goro, but the worst the thieves have done is knock people out so he isn’t in too much danger.

There’s still the possibility that the Phantom Thieves band could still be involved somehow. Goro puts that aside for now he’ll have time to theorize how once he gets back to his apartment. The subway is crowded like a usual afternoon, but once Goro gets off of his train he notices a woman handing out flyers. She reaches one out to him as he passes and he grabs it before he even has a chance to realize what he was doing.

Once he reaches his apartment he fully realizes the flyer in his hands. It’s an ad for a music venue that had recently opened in Kichijoji. On the ad, there was a list of bands and the dates they’d be playing, but the name that pops out to him is the Phantom Thieves. It looks like the group would be performing a week from now. 

Another investigation of the group couldn’t hurt although they might be suspicious of him now that Kurusu knows he’s a detective. Actually. they would only be suspicious if they were truly behind the robberies. Goro checks if he’s free and if by fate nothing on next Friday. Which is a bit strange given how packed his schedule is normally. He decides to let fate have its way this time.

\----  
Tuesday Oct/4/20XX

Akira’s still setting up stuff for practice upstairs because he kept putting it aside over the weekend and Monday, so now he’s rushing to get it done. It’s really not a big deal, but Akira likes having everything together so the practice can just start and he can go with the flow for the rest of the night.

The practice is usually pretty calming for him. His hands seem to move on their own on his guitar while he sings the lyrics of the song. there's hardly an ounce of silence when they practice, the whole room is filled with sound. The noise, the movement, the feeling of it all just fills him. Ann always says he looks like he’s in a different dimension when he zones out during practice, and honestly, he’s starting to think it’s true.

He’s just about done when he hears the door downstairs open Morgana bolts down the stairs to greet whoever just stepped in.

“AKIRA I'M GONNA MANAGE THE DOOR,” Futaba yells at the top of her lungs.

“THANKS, I’M ALMOST DONE UP HERE,” he yells back just as loud.

And with the last plug-in, he’s ready for practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Animal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the heist begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> finally we can get into some less filler stuff!  
> I originally planned to have the Yu and Yosuke bit in this chapter, but that would make this way longer then i wanted it to be. But no worries we'll have fun with the two of the next chapter :)

Akira likes to compare band practice to set up for a heist. Sneaking into places stealthily letting his brain run on auto-piolet lets him go into that other dimension that only seems to exist during a heist and during practice. He’s tried to explain it to Ryuji once or twice before. Ryuji gets it, he likes to compare it to when he runs during the mornings before anyone is outside. Akira also figures that it could be an adrenaline rush, which honestly explains some of his more reckless decisions.

Stealing a few extra little things at the last minute, performing an extra cocky stunt for an escape, and leaving little messages on the walls which always were mocking the police were just a few of Akira’s offenses. Futaba always calls him a show-off when he pulls one of these, and well she wouldn’t be wrong in saying that.

The plan for this heist was pretty simple, most of the hard parts had been done already thanks to Makoto, Futaba, and Mona. Futaba had dug up a huge amount of dirt and evidence of this old slimeball’s crimes. Makoto and Mona had been able to locate his apartment complex and find which floor he lived on by playing an ‘oh dear it seems my cat wandered off and managed to make his way up to the fourth floor and stop directly at your apartment’ card, whatever card that was it worked. 

So all they had to do was go in and grab the stolen art, easy peasy. If Akira was being honest this could be a solo mission, but Ann refused to let him go alone because he needed someone to actually be there to keep him out of trouble rather than Just Futaba screaming in his earpiece. 

It’s actually been a while since the group did some solo missions. Akira adds it to the ongoing list of mental notes that’s made it’s home in his brain. It would be just Ann and him on this mission though, Ann’s specialty is distractions, whether it be loud noises, violence, or just tormenting a guard with the idea of being watched by something that can’t be seen, she was great at it. Also, the whip she carries works pretty great as well.   
Akira on the other hand was skilled in stealth, no matter how much the team teased him for being a flashy bastard Akira only let himself be seen when he wanted to, otherwise, no one would have a clue he was there. So it really didn’t matter if he was showy or not he wasn’t getting caught. 

After preparation for the heist, the next day was finished the thieves had all sprawled out over the attic (and over each other).

“Hey, I’m a bit hungry but not in the mood for a full meal so I’m going to the little shop down the street to get snacks or hot cocoa mix or something,” Ann had said while stretching out across the section of hardwood floor she had claimed as her own.

“Ann we are literally in a cafe. I can make you some hot chocolate,” Akira muttered into the mattress he had face-planted in not just moments ago.

“Then hop on it barista boy,’ Futaba quipped back at him from the bean bag she, Haru, and Mona were sharing while Futaba was showing off Undertale to Haru. She had just gotten off of her shift and came upstairs for the meeting to make sure that she was just on security and navigation for the heist on Thursday. It was nothing she couldn’t handle.

\---

Security was nothing the crew couldn’t do, everything was set up for Thursday with no problems. Well, no problems yet. Goro knew how these heists worked, starting off with everything going normal then suddenly the cameras cut to black, guards were rendered useless, and whatever the Thieves were after was gone by the morning. 

What he was banking on, was catching a glimpse of the Thieves in action. How he planned this wasn’t complicated either. He was assuming since the cameras cut to black this would mean the Thieves wouldn’t be able to monitor the apartment. With this Goro would be able to hide without being spotted on the cameras. 

The Thieves had only shown to attack guards when they were in the way or caught wind of them, so Goro figured as long as he stayed out of the way he wouldn’t have to worry about getting knocked out. After explaining his plan to Sae she had agreed, though reluctantly nonetheless. 

When Goro got back to his apartment after double-checking the target’s apartment he noticed a few notifications on his phone. A few messages from Sae and Kurusu. Sae’s texts were nothing unexpected, reminders to rest well and be prepared for the next day. She’s been worrying over him more now that they’ve started this case. He had tried to bring it up to her in a subtle way a few days ago, and she simply said she didn't want to watch a young and talented person slowly crumble under the pressure from burn-out. He didn’t hate her for it though, he just wasn’t used to that level of concern about his well being. 

AKIRA KURUSU  
(7:23) Akira: Hey we’ve got a show next week down in Kichijoji if you were interested  
(7:24) Me: Yes, by some miracle I’m free next week, although I had already gotten a flyer for it down in Shibuya.  
(7:24) Akira: oh yeah Taba said the venue was testing different ways of marketing, pretty sure if you bring that flyer in you get a free drink or something  
(7:25) Me: I suppose that’s one way to advertise it’s too bad I don't drink that often.  
(7:26) Akira; I sorta figured you weren’t the type, but hey that just means you and I can get drinks when I don’t have to drive Taba home  
(7:26) Me: Although I doubt I would have time for that due to my work schedule, you mentioned a ‘Taba’ earlier do you mind me telling who they are?  
(7:27) Akira: oh yeah no problem, Taba is short for Futaba who’s my younger sister(sorta)  
(7:27) Me: Sorta?  
(7:26) Akira: We aren’t related by blood or anything, but her dad was my guardian throughout high school and he basically adopted me anyway.  
(7:26) Akira: she’s also the tech wizard behind all of our shows!  
(7:27) Me: You sound like an extremely proud older brother.  
(7:27) Akira: Oh don't get me wrong she’s still a huge gremlin :)

Goro wasn’t quite sure what it was, but something about Kurusu made it extremely easy to talk to him. Even if it was just over text he found himself connecting with Akira easier than any of his other classmates. He really didn’t have anything against his peers, he just found it hard to connect with them. The only other person his age he’s really talked to recently was Makoto at one her and her sister’s monthly meet-ups. 

Actually, after that dinner was when he got the message that he would be starting this case, which to say the least put a bit of a damper on the rest of his night. 

\--   
Akira and Ann were on the roof of the building next to the target’s apartment. The idea was to get to the roof of the apartment and manage to get into the vents as silently as possible and drop directly into the suite. By then Futaba would have cut the cameras and all he and Ann would have to do would be dealing with any guards.

Ann had just finished pinning her brown wig to her head, she had started wearing one since her blonde pigtails aren’t hard to recognize. Akira didn’t need to though, his inky curls seemed to blend in with the night. Both of them were dressed in full black leggings and turtle-necks as well as black gloves and jazz shoes to keep their footsteps as quiet as possible. Futaba’s voice rang through their earpieces.

“Panther, Joker are you ready? I’ve cut the cameras already.” 

“Yep, all set up over here,” Akira responded curtly.

“Alright, there are only two guards, one is near the main entrance and one is in the room with the paintings we’re after. Although, I doubt it should be a problem for you two.”

The two buildings were just about connected so the jump over to the apartments wasn’t terrible at all. They walked down from the roof onto the fourth floor and were able to find the vent opening Futaba had mentioned. Silently pulling Ann up with him into the vent was no struggle at all. Sitting in the vent, they waited for Futaba’s next instruction.

“Ok, the layout of this place is pretty simple. All you need to do is go forward until you reach the end, then turn left and you’ll end up in his bedroom. He’s not home right now and there’s nothing we’re after in there anyway.’’ 

When the two of them had finished shimmying their way to the end of the vent and made their turn they ended up directly over the target’s bed, which led to a soft and decently quiet landing.

“Joker, you should probably get the guard in the art room with sleeping gas and Ann should just get the one near the entrance with a good thwap to the head, ok.”

“Thwapping people on the head, have you no class Oracle?” Ann questioned jokingly in a hushed voice.

“Hey, come on ‘sleeping gas’ is just Futaba’s nicer version of smothering someone with a wet rag of chloroform,” Akira retorted. To be honest, Akira didn’t like the smell of it all that much, something was a bit off to the naturally sweet and chemically smelling liquid to him.

Ann just rolled her eyes. Quietly the two of them made their way to the main living space, Ann made her way to the entrance, but had instead decided to pull out a rag of chloroform anyway, just in case the guard put up a fight. Akira heard a soft thud while making his way to the art room. On his way there he looked out for tripwires or other little tricks to get him to slip up. 

He made his way through the kitchen and slowly turned the doorknob to the art room. He leaped with his rag to ambush the guard who was unconscious not a minute later.

“Alright, Oracle what’s next?’’ Akira asked while assessing the room around him. He noticed the two paintings they were after but didn’t touch them in fear of tripping an alarm. 

“Panther will escape the way she came in and return to the starting point. You need to grab those paintings and get out because once you remove them an alarm is going to go off. You can’t carry the art in the vents so you need to exit out of the window and into the alley where Makoto will pick you up in her car.”

Makoto was downstairs talking with the staff about losing her cat again and had taken her car to get here. She was in disguise like she was the last time although Mona was not with her this time. She and Akira were the only ones who knew how to drive so they were often selected as get-away drivers. 

Akira quickly snatched the artwork off the wall which led to a very loud siren to go off. With this he popped open the window and landed on the dumpster, thank god this place wasn’t impossibly tall. With that, he made his way to Makoto’s car and hopped in.

“So, did you find your cat?” Akira questioned with a cheeky smirk on his face.

“The cops will be here any minute, please save the jokes for later,” Makoto pleaded.

Ann sent a text that she was on her way to Shibuya station, and Makoto had gotten away as fast as the speed limit would allow. She was still in a wig and one of Haru’s borrowed sweaters and Akira was crammed in the back with two stolen pieces of art, which probably would end up with the original owners by next week.

But little did they notice the silently hidden detective watching the heist’s every move.

\---  
When Goro had gotten a text from Sae that all the cameras in the building were cut he immediately ran up to the fourth-floor penthouse. Knowing that the cameras were dead no one would know he had entered besides the guard waiting for him. He slipped into a now empty kitchen cupboard with the door slightly left ajar.

The kitchen was right in between the art room and the main entrance. Goro wasn’t a hundred percent sure if he would catch them in the act of stealing, but at least he could try to get a glimpse of them moving around the apartment. One could hope.

Before he knew it he heard a loud thud that had come from the entrance. Then he heard the feather-light footsteps of a person walking towards the kitchen. He could only make out a body dressed in full black and a face obscured by jet black hair.

Although he had found what he came for he couldn’t apprehend them either. It had seemed they had knocked out the guard at the front, and watching the figure pour a faintly sweet-smelling liquid onto a cloth Goro did not want a run-in with what he assumed to be chloroform. He figured Sae would be happy he wasn’t get involved Goro felt a little stupid for not even considering bringing something to apprehend them.

Before he could finish his train of thought a loud blaring alarm sounded. It instantly confirmed that the thief had the paintings. Goro didn’t like the loud noise that seemed to surround him and drown him in this tiny cupboard. It reminded him of the music venue he and Sae went to with screams from the crowd and the insanely loud music from the band.

But Sae, the cops, and the group of crime scene investigators were there not five minutes later. Sae immediately drilled him on everything he saw.

“I’m guessing there were at least two of them here as there were footsteps near the front and in the kitchen at the same time. Although, only one of them went into the art room. From the looks of it they came in through the vents, and one left out the window,” Goro responded to Sae

“Did you get a good image of what they looked like?” Sae questioned while managing the two knocked out guards.

“I only got a decent look at one, but they were dressed in all black, had black hair, and had a build similar to my own. I did see the pour some liquid onto a rag, which I assumed to be chloroform. It seems my suspicions were correct since the guard in the art room is currently unconscious.”

“Good we’ll have to interrogate the guards when they wake up, but since our victim was targeted by the Phantom Thieves I have a feeling this incident will be put on the back burner for a while,” Sae responded in a lower tone of voice while looking quizzically at Goro her lips are in a small frown with both hands on her sides.

“The targets of the Phantom Thieves indeed do tend to be criminals,” Goro quips back with his eyes half-lidded and a finger on his chin.

“We’ll pick up the investigation tomorrow, you should probably get home before the last train leaves, Goro,” she says while going to pick up the rest of the team. 

\---  
At exactly midnight Futaba leaked all of the information against their target. She spread it to every place imaginable surly the news would have picked up something for a report the next day. Akira also may or may not have prematurely shared this with one of his favorite journalists so she could have a great article to publish soon after the news, but no one needs to know. He’s been one of Ohya’s main sources since his third year of high school. He likes talking with her and Lala Chan, they are like his ‘almost’ aunts. This is also pretty funny since Ohya works at the same company his aunt Maya does just in the Tokyo section.

While his mind is still on the topic of his family he’s shaking with excitement when Yu and Yosuke come later on Friday evening. Although, the buzz could be the leftover adrenaline from the earlier heist.  
The rest of the group had sent in their suggested places around Tokyo to take Yu and Yosuke. Places including:  
Tokyo tower  
Dome town  
Akihabara arcade  
Any of the various music venous they performed at

And about ten thousand different restaurants and Haru had asked the two of them if they were open to trying the ideas for Leblanc’s menu. Yu had responded about it probably being better than anything his friends Chie and Yukiko could make and was happy to try anything. Haru and Futaba were ecstatic.

Morgana let out a sleepy sounding meow to signal Akira that he probably should sleep if he wanted to be up before classes started.

He was dreaming. That was the first thing that came to mind when staring at the formally dressed winged figure because he was always dreaming when he saw this creature. The figure always spoke to him like a fond and slightly amused parent.

“So it seems you have completed yet another heist, little one,” he states with a soft chuckle at the end. Akira just nods his head, never quite sure how to respond to the creature.

“ Keep your eyes peeled little one, you will soon face a number of challenges,” he speaks clearly and Akira nods again.

“That is all little one,” and with that Akira wakes up to Morgana smothering his face and demanding food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The heist isn't super important to the story, that's way the target didn't even get a name :/ but it is used to further the plot, this my first time writing something like this so criticism is most defiantly welcome.
> 
> Thank you so much for the support! i love reading your comments :D


	5. Easy on You (Yu)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira's brother is in town, and the phantom thieves are a hot topic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey finally got to the part i've had stuck in my head forever :D

Despite his weird dream, Akira proceeds on his normal morning routine all while having the news on in the background. They most definitely had gotten the information on last night’s heist and of course the target’s criminal deeds. Akira feels sort of giddy while listening to it, he can’t help but snicker at how they blow the whole thing out of proportion. It feels more like he’s listening to a play rather than the news.

Although there are several other reasons why Akira feels giddy. For one Yu is coming in the late evening, two he’s been texting with Akechi who Akira can't help but want to see in person again. They’ve been texting for a week now, talking about little things that are comfortable for the both of them to discuss. Some of Akira’s favorites had to be discussions about local restaurants they liked, their coworkers, and a whole discussion about Morgana. 

Akira can’t help but chuckle, he knows they only met in person once at the music venue, but he's really enjoyed talking with him. It feels different, even if he’s supposed to get some form of information out of him. His train of thought gets cut into two as Morgana seems to want all of his attention now anyway. He pulls out Mona’s favorite toy which is a shiny gold pom-pom attached to a string on a stick. Mona is very entertained.

Classes seem to drag on for an eternity, the professor’s lesson just sounds like unintelligible droning. Akira’s been pretty good at paying attention in class, but he just can’t focus. Luckily this time he won’t get chalk thrown at him. The only thing Akira can easily make out from the classroom is the idle gossip about the Phantom Thieves and their most recent heist.

“Their target totally deserved it though.”

“One of my friends works for that company and she always comes back to her dorm looking like a complete zombie.”

“Another slimy old pig turned to justice.”

“Those Phantom Thieves are like superheroes.”

“I bet they’re going to get that cute young detective to do the interviews since the older ones are sick of it by now.” 

That last statement pricks Akira’s interest because he only knows one cute and young detective that works for the Tokyo SIU. He’ll have to ask about it, to see if he’s actually on the case or is being forced to do an interview. That might actually be a reason to justify why he’s talking to him. Akira silently hopes Akechi isn’t on the case, because he really doesn’t want to be caught talking to a detective currently seeking to put him behind bars.

Well maybe ‘put him behind bars’ is not exactly the case, he did have that conversation with him last week. Basically what Akira can gather is that Akechi doesn’t hate the Phantom Thieves, He thinks they have just intentions but the illegal way they go about things is what bothers him. Akira knew what he was getting into when he started this, things had to be done illegally because there would be no possible way to do it otherwise. That wasn’t going to change.

By the time class lets out he can spot Ann at the front gate mumbling to herself. It’s a pretty cold day for October so her cheeks and nose are a shade of pink.

“Oh my god, Akira it took you long enough,” she groans out, teeth clearly clattering “Don’t you have work and a brother to pick up,” she’s clearly annoyed at how long she had been waiting out in the cold shooting Akira a glare.

“One, Boss let me off work because I had family coming in. Two, Yu won’t be here for another hour,” he responds amused by Ann’s even more annoyed face.

“You mean to tell me I could have not stood out in the cold for twenty-five minutes!?!” she yells back at him.

“No one said you had to wait outside,” he replies with a smirk.

“Ughhh, Akira, you owe me a crepe or something.”

“I don’t owe you anything, the choice was all yours to stand outside in cold weather,” he starts to walk forward with Ann at his heels.

“You probably owe me for something, no, not probably definitely. Come on there has to be something,” her mood has improved as she’s slowly going back to her bubbly personality and not grumpy from the cold personality. Which Akira is grateful for, a grumpy Ann is a very scary being, but not as scary as a mad Ann. Mad Ann Takamaki is a force Akira will not reckon with. 

“I’ll get back to you when I find something good you owe me for,” she says while giving up on her idea for now.

“I’m sure you’ll find something,” Akira responds in a tone that knows she’ll probably find something eventually.

“Anyway, so what’s your brother like?” she questions while walking behind Akira and scrolling down on her phone, she’s probably texting Shiho if he had to guess.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve told you about Yu before?” he questions while slowing down a bit so she can catch up.

“You’ve told me the general stuff before like that he’s seven years older, he lives out in the country, and that he works for crime scene investigation. But you haven’t told me any of the fun stuff.” 

“He likes cats.”

“Oh, of course, he does. Is there like some kind of genetic connection your family has with relation to cats?” 

“Probably, well not genetically at least. We aren’t related by blood,” Akira responds while chuckling to himself. “I and my brothers were all adopted.”

“Then it’s probably some spiritual connection to them, I mean you even like having your hair being pet like one,” she comments offhandedly.

“Mmm, maybe. If not that we both have a talent for cat names,” he says sporting a wide grin.

“Please tell me what could be better than ‘Morgana the embodiment of hope and fat tuna Kurusu’.” 

“ Izanagi and Jiraiya.”

“WHAT!?!?” Ann burst out laughing, doubled over and leaned against a building. “What on earth kind of cat names are those?”

“Hey don’t ask me, well Jiraiya is Yosuke’s but I have a feeling Yu contributed to the naming department,” he ends up chuckling with her.

Shiho and Futaba are waiting for them when they arrive at Shibuya station. Futaba is as close as possible to Shiho as she can be. Futaba can ride the subway alone, but that does not mean she enjoys it. She’d rather be with someone else while traveling, and in crowded places like the subway, they don’t help all that much. 

Ann nearly fly-tackles Shiho and Futaba is now clinging to Akira’s arm. He notices Morgana's head poke out of Futaba’s backpack. A loud meow demands Akira’s attention yet again.

“Mona Mona got bored at your place so he escaped to the sanctuary of my bag after school let out, he was just sort of waiting near the gate for me,” she’s released his arm at this point and scoops Morgana out of the bag to pass to Akira.

“Makes sense I would take him to school some days and on the days he got bored in the attic he would wait up for me at the gate,” he responds with a fond smile while baby-carrying Morgana.

“Honestly I’m not sure how none of the teachers besides Kawakami found out you had a cat in your desk,” Ann says, still wrapped up around Shiho.

“You brought your cat to school?” Shiho questions face covered by one of Ann's unruly pigtails.

“Yep,” says Akira popping the ‘P’ Morgana meows in reply. Shiho snickers in response.

“And no one found out?” She questions curiously.

“Oh, no, plenty of people found out,” Futaba quickly quips back while staring down at her phone. “Akira just shut them up with bribes, or they were already scared of him and weren’t going to snitch.”

“Ugh, yeah they all thought he was going to stab them if they looked at him wrong,” Ann says, aggravated by the unpleasant memories.

Before anyone can respond to Ann’s last statement Akira’s phone begins to ring.

“Hey, ok great you made it in one piece, Uh-huh ok, yep. Ok, alright, um look for me, a girl with bright orange hair, a blonde girl, and a girl in a volleyball uniform. Yes, we’re over near the entrance,” the whole call is a bit disjointed and hard to hear due to the subway’s rather loud setting.

“You know you could just have Mona lead them, he is smart enough not to get trampled,” Futaba says while playing a mobile game on her phone.

“Yeah I have a feeling sending a cat to lead Yu around a subway won’t end the way we planned,” Akira sighs. 

“Oh, how so?” Shiho asks, finally free from Ann’s death grip of a hug.

“Mona could probably weasel the guy into buying him some fancy tuna instead of taking him to us,’’ Ann says knowingly clearly having some previous experience with the clever little feline.

Morgana just meows in protest. Akira suddenly catches someone familiar with his peripheral vision. Yu and Yosuke are walking towards them with small suitcases at their sides. Futaba has tensed up a bit at the presence of new people, but it doesn’t seem so bad since she’s talked with Yu online and Akira has nothing but good things to say about them.

“Hey it took you two long enough,” Akira says with a big grin on his face.

“At least cut us some slack. Inaba isn't nearly as cramped as a train station as this,” Yosuke sighs, overwhelmed by the number of people Shibuya station can hold.

“I know right, it totally feels like I'm a sardine stuck in a can every time I come here!” Futaba exclaims, sharing her grievances about the subway. Yu just chuckles to himself.

“Now, I don’t know about you but I think introductions would be a bit easier outside of the busy train station,” Akira states sarcastically.

“Sounds good to me. It’s also good to see Minato’s influence hasn’t left you yet,” Yu says to Akira, Ann just snickers to herself after hearing that last statement.  
The group of them walk out of the train station and start making their way to Yu and Yosuke’s hotel. They’re able to check-in and their bags are taken up to their room. Futaba has clearly relaxed a bit, but Morgana is still restless in Akira’s bag. They’re all sitting and standing around a bench at the front of the hotel.

“Alright, someone mentioned something about introductions,” Yu says leaning against the wall.  
“I’ll first then, My name is Yu Narukami. I'm Akira’s older brother. This is my partner Yosuke Hanamura,” he says while gesturing towards Yosuke who is standing to his right.

“Hey there,” Yosuke says with a wave and a smile. His bangs are slightly brushed out of his face. He’s sporting some wireless headphones around his neck as well as a simple jacket, T-shirt, and jeans combo. Yu has on a big sweater and jeans, he looks like a dad if he’s being honest. His hair is still rounded perfectly, something Akira could never get his unruly mop of curls to do.

Futaba chalked up her confidence to get her introduction out of the way as quickly as possible.  
“Hi there, My name’s Futaba Sakura, please just call me Futaba. Sojiro Sakura is my dad and was Akira’s guardian during high school, which basically makes me his younger sister because Sojiro practically adopted him. I’m a third-year in high school, and I excel at anything involving computers. I’m also the gun-about champion betting Akira by one point,” she practically says all in one breath. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Futaba,” Yu says while extending a hand, she quickly grabs it and shakes it vigorously. She looks to Akira who gives her a nod of approval, she has a big grin on her face clearly proud of herself.

“Hi I’m Ann Takamaki, I work for a modeling company here in Tokyo, but I also travel a lot because of it. Um, I should probably do a fun fact right?’’ She questions to herself “I’m also fully fluent in English and Finish. Akira has told me nothing but good things about the two of you. It's great to finally meet you,” she says with a light smile. 

“Same here,” Yu says while shaking her hand.

Shiho was up next and she had a grin on her face like the rest of the group. “Hello, My name is Shiho Suzui. I play volleyball professionally and I am also working with local high schools as an assistant coach. Ann and Akira helped me through my physical therapy during high school and we’ve been friends ever since,” she says sweetly, extending her hand out to Yu and Yosuke. Her grip was much tighter than the both of them were expecting.

“It’s great to meet you, Suzui,” Yu responded while shaking his hand to get his blood back to flow.

Akira reaches around to grab his backpack slowly undoing the rest of the zipper to let Morgana fully hop out. Yu and Yosuke’s attention is immediately grabbed.  
“This here is Morgana,” Akira says with a smile as he scoops the cat up like a baby again.

“One, when did you get a cat. Two why didn’t you tell me about it?” Yu questions with a clearly interested look on his face.

“Well to be fair Akira didn’t really get Mona, he just sorta showed up and claimed Akira as his own,” Ann states remembering the time in high school where Akira was panicking over the little black and white cat that just showed up in his bag and wouldn’t leave.

“Also the minute I would have told you ‘hey I have a cat’ you would be over here in less than 24 hours just to see the cat,” Akira says bluntly with a stiff look on his face.

“I would not!” Yu protests.

“To be honest you would,” Yosuke says while looking at Yu knowingly.

“Yosuke!” Yu has a look of betrayal on his face. 

Akira’s small group ends up snickering and laughing to themselves.

\----

Their small group of people decides to go to Crossroads for dinner and drinks. The whole group couldn’t be there that night but had planned to show up periodically over the weekend for outings to their favorite places around Tokyo. Akira was already buzzing with excitement.

Crossroads was pretty empty for a Friday night, of course not completely empty. Its number one patron is sitting in her usual seat sipping some kind of pink drink. Lala Chan is more than excited to meet Akira’s friends and brother although sending a glare at Akira for bringing in a minor. He quickly reassures her that Futaba is of age and that she just had been crushed by a hydraulic press, which led to her short stature. Futaba also shows her ID which probably helped too.

“Hey, hey you actually brought people with you this time kid!” Ohya says overjoyed, raising her glass in celebration.

Ann, Shiho, and Futaba say their hellos and go to sit down in a booth. Ohya runs off her usual questions before even noticing Yu and Yosuke.

“Oh, sorry didn’t even notice the newbies ya’ brought kid, I hope you don't mind introducing us,” Ohya says in surprise when looking at the two of them.

Akira just gives her a big grin. “This is Yu Narukami, my brother, and his partner Yosuke Hanamura. They both work for the crime scene investigation department down in Inaba,” Akira says. Yu and Yosuke both give her a handshake and say hello.

“Inaba huh? Must have been one hell of a train ride, and I thought Sumaru was far,” Ohya sighs with a huff. 

Yu perks up at the mention of Sumaru “You’ve been to Sumaru?” he questions with curiosity spelled all over his face. Yosuke excuses himself to go sit at the booth with the others drink in hand.

“Yeah headquarters for work is down there, so sometimes I get called to do some reports or they send someone up here.”

“Oh, so you work as a reporter?” Yu questions.

“Nope, I’m a journalist. Actually hey wait, Akira your aunt was up here for work last year, right? Oh, what's her name, May? Naya? ummmm?” Ohya hums to herself trying to remember the name of Akira and Yu’s aunt.

“Maya?” Yu asks in a tone that says that he clearly knows the answer but is still trying to help.

“MAYA!, bingo! That’s it! You’re pretty good,” she answers with a big smiley grin and takes a big swig of her drink.

“So, you work at Coolest Magazine, Miss Ichiko?” Yu asks politely.

“Yep, your Aunt’s a really big softy, seriously it’s kinda scary how optimistic she can get,” she claims.

To tell the truth when coming to work at Crossroads last November the last thing he expected was to see his aunt, what he should have expected though was the tackle hug he got the second she realized it was him. Ohya and Lala Chan were plenty pleased to be introduced to his aunt after he was released from the death grip.

Ohya and Yu finish up their quick little chat and he and Akira go to the booth where the rest of the party was at the moment. Ann has already downed one of her drinks and her second one is well on its way. Futaba is running through every bit of Feather Man lore in her brain and rambling it off to Shiho and Yosuke who both look a bit overwhelmed. 

The group of them start rambling off a bunch of different ice breaker stories. Classic ones like how Ann and Shiho met when Shiho criticized Ann’s drawing in middle school when she first came to Tokyo. Or how Futaba defeated Akira at the Gun-About tournament. Yu brings up the time he, Yosuke, and a few others crossdressed for a school festival, which leads Yosuke to get thoroughly embarrassed. Akira brings up how they nearly caused an electrical fire at one of the venues they performed at. About an hour later everyone’s pretty buzzed.

“Alright, alright, alright, so spill how did you two meet?” Ann asks pointed at Yu and Yosuke being her usual romantic self.

“Please don’t,” Yosuke asks Yu, sending him a look Akira can’t read.

“Oh, I most definitely will,” Yu responds flatly.

“For the love of god Yu please,” Yosuke pleads.

“He fell into a trash can and got stuck and I helped him out of it,” Yu says quickly before Yosuke can cover up his mouth with his hand. 

“Come on man!” Yosuke says exasperated burying his face in his hands.

The rest of the party burst out in a small chuckle, Yu just pats Yosuke’s shoulder and says something about fate being a cruel mistress.

The rest of the night passes with more drinks and stories and Yosuke’s revenge on Yu with an embarrassing story about he ran into a fence trying to pet a stray cat. By the end of the night, Ann and Shiho call a cab and go back to their apartment, and Yu and Yosuke head back to their place. Futaba’s asleep on the couch while Akira helps Lala Chan clean up.

“You’ve got a pretty good brother there, kid,” Lala Chan says with a proud look on her face.

“I’m glad you think so, Lala Chan,” He responds with an equally proud look.

“You might want to head back to your place though, Shinjuku isn’t a place you want to be at right now,” Lala Chan says almost like a mother.

“Yes ma'am.”

So Akira walks back to the subway while giving Futaba a piggy-back ride to his apartment. He drops her on the couch and calls Sojiro to tell him she’s staying at his place. Morgana has curled up near his guitar and he can’t help but take a picture and send it to everyone he knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was super easy to write since i've saving up ideas for weeks now so this happened pretty quick. Also Yu casually embarrassing Yosuke is very fun to write. Next chapter more shenanigans with the other thieves. Also this whole chapter ended up only being Akira perspective I promise we'll have some long Goro bits next time.
> 
> A Comment, Kudos, or Criticism is very welcome <3


	6. fences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and company travel around Tokyo

He would usually care less about getting sent a picture of a cat at one AM, but usually, he wouldn’t be up at one AM looking over clues from a crime scene. So right now the picture of the cat is rather annoying to Goro. It reminds him of the little cat logo the Phantom Thieves use, and currently, the Phantom Thieves are going to have him put his head through a wall. Hardly a speck of evidence aside from his account of watching one of the Thieves pour what has now been confirmed as chloroform onto a rag and enter the art. then the guards account of seeing a long-haired brunette knock him out.

There was not a sliver of DNA evidence, the camera’s had been cut, and the thieves escaped with the paintings. But none of that had really mattered had it? The night of the heist there was a major information leak to multiple unbiased news sources and a plethora of places on the internet about all the target’s crimes. Goro could see that they were trying to be heroic but it just makes it even more annoying from going to one case to the next in a matter of hours with little warning and even less sleep. 

Taking justice into their own hands has certainly caused the SIU more unrest. And most certainly has caused Goro many sleepless nights. In this case, it is one AM on a Saturday and Goro is no longer thumbing through evidence from the heist at the apartment but instead looking over all of the sources and links from the major information leak. He doesn’t really need to do this, he’s already read over it twice, but he and Sae and he need points to take to court and various charges need to be pinned down. Luckily for him, the Thieves are very thorough when gathering their evidence so he just has to thumb through the major things.

It seems their target has already claimed to be guilty of all of it, but unfortunately, it would still be a few months before this whole thing can go in for the court. He’s nearly finished and would probably have everything ready for Sae by the afternoon, so he allows his eyes to slowly close as he falls asleep on top of his stack of papers. 

He’s in a dream, he knows just by looking around. He’s in an open meadow. There's a soft humming and it smells like lavender. He knows it is a dream because he’s had it before. He knows there’s a small house behind him, and that house feels open, warm, and happy. This is a good version of this dream. there’s a version of it that’s a nightmare, his mother is in that version. This one though is fine, he doesn’t feel like getting up from the meadow just yet and decides to lay in the grass for a while longer.

“There is another that will save you from your own ruin, little prince,” a deep, full voice sounds out throughout the meadow. Goro sits up and looks for the voice’s owner, but can’t find anyone but himself. He starts walking towards the house, by the time he reaches the house he notices the little white dove that sits outside his apartment.

He wakes up from his little dream, groaning at the fact that his neck hurts from sleeping on a stack of papers. The image of Kurusu’s cat still on his phone curled up around his cherry-red guitar. He stands to go check his balcony for the birds that usually stand there staring at him.  
\---   
Akira woke up on Saturday morning only feeling slightly hungover, nothing a few painkillers couldn’t fix though. Mona is still curled up around his guitar. Akira would normally choose to sleep in on the weekends, but he has plans to take Yu and Yosuke to Leblanc.

Normally coffee and curry wouldn’t necessarily be considered breakfast, but if Akira from high had anything to say about it it would be nothing but praise for this combo. Although current Akira still likes it immensely. Before he leaves for Leblanc though he’s scrolling through the group chat.

(10:12) Ann: Alright just so we’re clear, the songs we picked out for this small gig in Kichijoji have been picked right?  
(10:12) Haru: I believe they have not been selected, although we had tossed around some names here and there.  
(10:13) Makoto: Futaba had said something about doing some covers of some queen songs.  
(10:13) Ryuji: We’re going to need sheet music for that Taba.  
(10:14) Futaba: well duh but we’re also gonna need to decide on some songs.  
(10:14) Akira: well ‘i want to break free’ and “another one bites the dust’ shouldn’t be hard to learn.  
(10:15) Ann: we’ll stick to those if they’re simple, Akira  
(10:15) Ann: Taba you can get the Tab sheets for that right?  
(10:15) Futaba: yep no problem  
(10:16) Yusuke: we’ll probably need to pick out six others since the performance will be on a small scale.  
(10:16) Haru: If the plan is just to do covers might I suggest one?  
(10:16) Akira: no problems here.  
(10:17) Haru; I’m thinking something more modern and not from the ’70s-’80s  
(10:17) Yusuke: do you have any bands or songs you would recommend?  
(10:18) Haru: https://docs.google.com

Akira decides he’ll look over the document in a little bit because if he doesn’t get himself out of the house he’ll miss his train. He has to meet his two companions in Shibuya so he can navigate them through the back streets of Yogen-Jaya. Mona Hops into his bag before he can leave clearly not wanting to be forgotten and the two of them disembark to the train station.

He’s eyeing the bread shop with the eyes of a starving man when he sees Yu’s silver hair and Yosuke’s bright headphones in the corner of his eyes. He swiftly turns around to face the two of them. They’re dressed about the same as last night, although they seem more awake today.

“Leblanc isn’t too far from here. Futaba, Haru, and Makoto are waiting for us there,” Akira says to them. Morgana pokes his head out of his bags as a greeting.

“Oh, Haru’s your friend that needed taste testers right?” Yu asks, looking at the bread stand nearly the same Akira was. They probably should head to Leblanc as soon as possible Akira realizes as his stomach lets out a small growl.

“Honestly, we’ll try anything if it’s better than Chie and Yukiko’s cooking,” he sighs. “Man, it’s a relief Chie’s not here to slug me in the arm for that, that lady she scares me,” He looks exasperated. Akira just chuckles. He met Chie while he was living in Inaba before his ‘move’ to Tokyo, and she seemed quite strong and had an almost religious love of stake.

With that, the three of them make their way down to Yogen-Jaya. Akira points out posters, statues, venues they’ve done gigs at, and anything that catches his eye. Morgana tries to add in his own personal cat commentary, Yu seems to get it but Akira translates for Yosuke’s sake.

When they reach Leblanc Akira points out the small garden Haru has started at the front of the store. It reminds him of the flowers and vegetables she grew on the roof of the school during his third year of high school. 

When they stepped in they’re greeted with the soft chime of bells and the strong smell of coffee and curry powder. This place feels as homey and cozy as it did the last time Akira was here, which was only Thursday morning.

Makoto and Futaba are sitting at the bar while Haru cleans dishes in the back. Sojiro is managing the various coffee machines. Morgana hops out of Akira’s bag to examine the place, finding everything to be the same as he left it he hops up onto Futaba.

“Hey kid,” Sojiro says in his usual gruff voice sending Akira a glance from his work station. Haru says hello as well but her soft voice gets dominated by the sink’s noise.

“Yo,” Futaba says, not looking away from her laptop idly petting Morgana.

“Hello, Akira. I take it that the people you’re with are your brother and his partner?” Makoto asks while looking at Akira’s two companions.

“Yep, My name is Yu Narukami,” he says while he walks up to her and extends a hand. Makoto firmly shakes it, sending him a simple smile.

“And I'm Yosuke Hanamura, nice to meet you,” Yosuke says while extending her a hand as well. 

“My name is Makoto Nijima, it is a pleasure to meet the two of you. I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay in Tokyo so far, Akira’s told me you two live pretty far away so I imagine it was one long train ride,” she replies. 

“You’re telling me,” Yosuke comments.  
Haru turns away from her dishes to speak with the group. She wipes her wet hands on her apron while also shaking any lose water drops off.

“Hello, I’m Haru Okumura it’s wonderful to finally get to met you in person,” she says with a cheerful smile. After giving a small bow of her head she continues working for the time being. Sojiro takes a glance at Yu before nodding to himself. The three of them have taken a seat at the bar as well.

“So this is where you stayed while you were on probation?” Yosuke asks while looking at what he should order.

“Yep, I sure did,” Akira responds to Yosuke while explaining the difference in coffee to Yu.

“Although, if I recall he hardly stayed here during the day since he had school and was running around Tokyo half the time,” Makoto comments to no one in particular. 

“Hey, running around Tokyo got me employed so I’m not complaining. College isn’t cheap,” Akira replies.

“You worked at other places besides Leblanc?” Yu asks. He looks puzzled because Akira didn’t really want to worry him with the fact that he’s working five part-time jobs, so Akira didn’t really tell him that he was working five part-time jobs.

“Oh, yes Akira works at various little places here, although the flower shop was somewhat unexpected, but maybe that explains his encyclopedia of knowledge on flower language,” Haru says sweetly.

Yu sends him a look. It’s not that hard to decode this look though. It probably means Yu is surprised Akira took a job at a flower shop given the fact that flowers remind Akira of his parents that he’s still not on great terms with. Akira sends him a look that’s supposed to say ‘it’s alright”.

Yu doesn’t send him anymore pressuring looks that probably means it’s alright for now.

“Jeez, just working at Junes was stressful enough I can’t imagine what it’s like to work multiple part-time jobs,” Yosuke comments with a tired look on his face. Akira has to agree though, distancing himself from his parents and family didn’t give any lee-way with money so he resorted to the various part-time jobs scattered around Tokyo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, first off, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long. I've had really bad writer's block for a while now. Second, I'm sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the others and has a really abrupt ending, I just really needed to get this chapter out. like I mentioned in my update I did go back and make a huge grammar fix to all previous chapters. I am going to try and update this monthly, but the chapters mat be shorter
> 
> I really appreciate all the support I've gotten, and I'd love to answer questions you have. As usual Kudos, comment, or criticism is greatly appreciated <3


	7. July

If he’s being honest a lot of places remind him of home. Various shops scattered about have aspects of a home that stick out like a sore thumb. Inaba was small and rural, but so many parts of it hang on him; his accent, the jiggle of a store that’s always in his head.  
Sumaru wasn’t really a place to raise children. What with the rumors of cults, and the drunkards walking home at night. His parents never stayed in one place for too long. But then Yu went to Inaba for a year and Akira’s parents loved it.

And maybe Inaba wasn’t ready for Yu Narukami to bring in a detective, a florist, and a messy-haired eleven-year-old. Akira’s eldest brother was already in his last year of college and Yu was working his ass off for his final year of high school. Akira was never great at making lasting friendships between his peers, so he mostly stayed by his dad's side helping him at the flower shop.

But then the incident happened

Tokyo wasn’t terrible, it never was. But things weren’t the same between him and his family. Yet he still finds bits and pieces of them here. Whether it be at the flower shop, Untouchables, or a beef bowl shop. He still finds them.

And maybe that’s why he’s dragging Yu and his boyfriend around Tokyo. He’s showing them all the things he missed, the things that he’d known they were going to like because those things reminded him of them.

They knew about the band, who didn’t at this point. But as fun, as the band is, that also reminds him of home. He didn’t talk Yu about it.

His brain feels like the static of the TV up in his attic. He’s high off the moment, the happiness, the sense of deja vu. It reminds him of the buzz he gets running his fingers up and down the frets of his guitar, or during a great escape during a heist.

But then it’s gone.

He’s waving goodbye to his brother at the train station. Like he did when he was ten, and like he did when he left for Tokyo. It was all too familiar. All the shops, all the people, even Yu leaving.

\----  
He found himself listening to their music more often now. Casually going to their channel and playing one of the albums. He’s never been into rock, yet he finds himself mouthing the words.

It’s addictive. Just like this case.

At first, it seemed like a joke, it was annoying, he couldn’t solve it. But after a while, he sees the patterns, the system. He shouldn’t admire thieves, but all of it was impressive. The care put into their heists. It was more than just an average case of robberies, which only made Goro want to solve it more.

It was like the steady debates he’d been having with Kurusu over the weekend. Looking for holes in his separate view to only have the holes in his pointed out.

He wanted to talk with him again in person. The one time at the show was nothing but shameless flirting. But now he knows about the more thoughtful side of Akira Kurusu, and he wanted more.

He was truly intriguing regardless of how suspicious he may be.

Their band had another show this Friday. He could use the excuse of interrogating them again even if he would be off work.

Goro Akechi planned to solve this regardless of what means he uses. And investigating while off duty would just have to be one of those means. Even if it was all an excuse to talk with Kurusu again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! thanks for reading, as usual comments, kudos, or criticism is welcome. If you have any questions feel free to ask! :)


	8. Halloween part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween part one! This was originally meant to come out on Halloween, but my schedule wasn’t going to let that happen. This is part one part two will be released in November. This was going to be a monster of a chapter if I didn’t break it up, anyways enjoy!

October was one of Akira’s favorite months, with the cool autumn air, seasonal drinks, and of course the Halloween decorations. Halloween has always been a much bigger deal in Tokyo than it has ever been in Inaba. Akira can’t complain, he personally loves the holiday. The dark colors and costumes speak to his gothic heart.

Luckily he’s not the only one. Futaba loves binge watching traditional horror films. Ann spends the whole month making Shiho and herself costumes. Yusuke does those Halloween month long art challenges. Haru finds the holiday charming and usually goes out of her way to have Okumura foods do an event each year. The rest of the crew tags along as support for all these endeavors. 

And yes, Akira tried to get Sojiro to make a pumpkin-spice latte, his only response was a glare and a disappointed sigh. He did not however object to letting the café get decorated.  


This year though, the band was going to have a Halloween livestream. Futaba had been spending a lot of time trying to have it so set up should be supper easy so the crew wouldn't have to worry about it during their next live performance, which was this Friday.

The little place down in Kichijoji was fairly new, he could tell since it didn't reek of cigarettes and alcohol completely yet. The PT's had decided to work with them to give the place a PR boost. They also did it so they'd have a distraction from their most recent heist, drawing the attention away from the CEO getting locked up and bringing it to their music.

Akira wished that Yu and Yosuke had stuck around long enough to watch, but they had work back in Inaba. Plus they could always tune in to the livestream on Halloween. He knew some people down in Inaba listen to them, mainly Nanako and her group of friends, and his parents who had a band of their own at his age.

Gas Chamber was actually a huge influence on Akira and his music. The way he sang was largely based on his uncle Ekichi and most of his guitar work is similar to his dad's. Ryuji is the only one in the group who notices though since he is the only one who’s listened to their music before and can pick on the little similarities.  
So they had a small following outside of Tokyo and the internet theorists. The theorists only bring them more attention, and Akira isn't one to complain, Futaba however finds it hilarious.  
————  
"Akira, do you think Iwai would have a feather green cosplay?" Futaba asks, she hasn't looked up from her screen in a whole hour so the sudden conversation is unexpected to say the least.

"Maybe not the full costume, but he probably has the weapons to go with it," He responded  
“Didn’t you dress as Feather Green last year anyway?” Akira asks while whipping the counter down with a wet rag.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point,” she responds sarcastically.

“So what is the point then?” he questions her, but it sounds like a challenge.

“The point is that it’s going to be part of a group cosplay contest, you hopeless mop,” She responds with that little gremlin smrk of her’s.

“Group cosplay? With who? I know you don't like people,” He says accusingly

“With Sumi, duh” she glares at him. Regardless of how much progress she’s made from when she was a high school shut in, Futaba still isn’t a huge new people fan. She usually like hanging out with the group and any extras like Mishima, Shiho, or Sumi. Akira can tell she’s had a crush on Sumi for years, but she’s too nervous to admit it. Akira has been trying to get her to say something but she usually responds with something along the lines of:

“That’s rich coming from ‘Mister I'm going to let my feelings simmer on low for ten months’.”

And she wouldn’t be wrong he is a bisexual mess.

“So what prize do you get if you win the costume contest?” He asks casually. Hardly anyone comes to the shop in the early afternoon, most of their crowd (if you could even call it a crowd) came in the morning and evening.

“Ehh, just some money and figurine nothing huge, the most fun part comes from creating the costumes and participating in it.”

“And i’m just now hearing about this because?” he asks.

“Because i’ve been holed up in my room making sure that the live stream goes well.” She retorts through gritted teeth.

“ As if you couldn’t have sent me a text,” he responds, though there's no bite to it.  
“Like you would ever see it with how often you're talking to that detective,” Her grin is maniacal at this point.

“At least he uses words instead of emojis when he texts.” Akira responds confidently.

“Yeah, with full punctuation too, he sounds like an english scholar.”

“Whatever you two are fighting about this time isn’t getting the curry made, “ Sojiro huffs out near the door. He’s holding a bag of groceries that futaba grabs and runs behind the counter with.

———  
It wasn’t really a surprise that halloween showed a spike in petty crime, what with all the masks and fake weapons of course something was going to happen. SIU usually didn’t get involved till after the fact. Most of the time the police just let them off with a warning if it was just some kids being dumb. Most of the time if there was an investigation necessary it wouldn’t take long and most people just got off with community service.

Goro tried to not let it spoil his fun. He would usually put on some american horror classics and order out some food. The birds out on his balcony seem to like to watch with him. Which was a bit strange but he didn’t mind. Kurusu had asked if was going to watch their live stream the night of. He was thinking about it, changing up his usual plans couldn’t hurt. He was already going to see them live that friday anyway.

He would usually argue that it was for investigative purposes but now he has to admit that it’s not entirely the whole reason. Talking with Kurusu over text has been nice but talking to him in person would definitely be a huge improvement.

Sae and Akechi have been working hard to formulate a solid court case for the old CEO they have behind bars. So it’d be nice to have a break to listen to some music and talk with someone. 

Regardless of how nice a break would be he still has work. The case needs to be finished and he still needs to continue his investigation of the phantom thieves. From what he could remember of the night of the heist there were reportedly two people there that night. A young woman with brown hair and what appeared to be a man cloaked in black. The man had escaped through the window and the woman most likely left through the vents.

There wasn’t any DNA evidence. Gloves most likely prevented any DNA getting on the chloroform rag. The old CEO seemed to have frequent gatherings in the apartment so an DNA could just be from some party goer. 

So nothing really changed from what they had already known. About as annoying as usual. Goro can see why no one wanted this case, but he’d be damned if he was giving up like his superiors.

\--  
Goro had never one for costumes. It wasn't that he didn’t like them or thought they weren’t nice to look at. It was something more personal, he wasn’t one to show off and only drew attention to himself when he wanted. He found himself annoyed when fans of his work came up and asked numerous personal questions or tried to grab his hands to shake. Halloween costumes seem to just draw in more unwanted attention than necessary.

But he found that costumes looked very nice on other people.

Friday night in a small venue in Kichijoji, that had yet to gain the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat, he finds himself seated in a small booth near the wall. He’s far enough from the stage that he can still feel the vibration of the bass in the wall and floor. He can also make out the figures on stage.

He can tell they’ve added more halloweenish approach to their usual setup. Their typical costumes have purple, orange, green accents as well as jack frosts and Pyro Jacks decorating the stage. The light show projects a haunted house on the backdrop. The group looks as wild as they usually do in their videos, but the fact that they’re live just makes the energy more electric. 

They’re only playing covers of American songs he’s heard before, but they seem to add their own sort of magic to it. And he’s not just saying that because the lead singer in the nice coat has been winking at him all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the chapters getting shorter, now that I’m back in school it’s been a lot harder to write 3,000+ words per chapter, but I hope you’re still enjoying the monthly uploads. I’ve been thinking about a set chapter count for this fic and while this isn’t final 20 chapters is my best guess at the moment. 
> 
> Kudos, comments, and criticism is greatly appreciated. I love talking with you and answering any questions you may have about this fic! <3


	9. Halloween part 2

There’s something electric about performing live. The smell of cigarettes and alcohol typically runs rampant through the air. But tonight the room smelled new and fresh. Tonight all eyes were on them and their Halloween get-up. Ann had added so many small details to the costumes that it had felt as if Akira was wearing an entirely new outfit. People watched in amazement as Futaba and Yusuke’s collaboration for the light show came together on stage.

All in all the audience couldn't take their eyes off them. Especially a brunet detective sitting in the corner. Akira almost forgot how pretty he was. Sure they’d been talking over text for a couple of weeks, and Akira had seen him on TV when he did those case interviews. 

Those interviews were always a treat to watch, Akechi would be trying to take things seriously and explain the case while the interviewer just fawned over him or called him young. Akira could tell he was annoyed by this, but he hid it so well that it was hard to notice. Talk about the self-control of a god.

But right now he didn’t seem annoyed at all. He looked like he was enjoying the show, or more importantly Akira. This only spiked his confidence in this show even more.  
Smirking a bit he took another step closer to his mike he began singing alongside Ann, who had volunteered to sing a few songs since they were in English. Luckily he knew most of these songs by heart so adding even more flair to their performance couldn’t hurt.

Ann’s higher soprano was a nice contrast to his deeper baritone giving each other an echoing effect. He let a few stray looks betray him as his eyes always seem to land on Akechi. During normal performances, his eyes would glaze over most of the crowd and he's described it as looking past them. But tonight he couldn’t keep his eyes off Akechi, luckily for him, it seems Akechi has the same problem. 

Their gazes meet for a moment Akira can see the light show reflecting off of his eyes and face, a dazzling spectacle in its own right. Akira realizes for a moment so briefly that it practically flutters away, that he wishes he was the only one Akechi would ever look at. But he suppresses that possessive behavior before it even has the chance to emerge.

\----

For the few live performances, he’s been to this one certainly has been the most energetic out of them all. The Jazz-Jin typically had a nice smooth jazz song playing or a singer with a nice and even melody. Honestly, it’s one of the best places for him to relax because of it. But tonight was something different. Unlike the last show, he was here solely for himself and not working. He also didn’t get a headache from the sensory nightmare that was a music venue.

Tonight the music felt alive. Most of the songs were covers of English rock from the ’80s that he heard over and over from his colleagues at work. Yet somehow they all sound unique coming from this band. 

It seems that the blonde girl dressed in red, Ann Takamaki if his research was correct, speaks and sings English pretty well so she’s taken the lead for the night. Kurusu Kun cuts in at some points adding a rich and deeper tone to her voice. And on regular days the loud drums, the vibration of the bass, and a light show combined would give him a migraine, but today he just watches in pure awe.

.It also doesn’t help that Kurusu keeps sending him looks throughout the night. Their eyes had met briefly and Akechi could only describe the moment as stunning, piercing eyes sending their gaze directly at him. He was a bit red in the face after that.  
\--

Confidence was key when doing anything. If you acted as you belonged there people wouldn’t give you a second glance. Now of course this can’t work in every situation, regardless of how much confidence he had back in high school people still treated him like crap. But that doesn’t matter now.

“You’d think a purple calla lily wouldn’t come to a rock concert,” he says directly behind the booth Akechi is sitting at. He jumps a little at his sudden presence, Akira thinks it's kind of cute.

“Oh! Good evening Kurusu Kun,” He says in a startled voice, His head turns sharply the small fringes of his hair catch on his shoulders.

“Finally got tired of texting and had to come to see me yourself, right?” Akira teases.

“Hm, I suppose so. But don’t let that dissuade you from texting me I do enjoy our conversations regardless of the topic,” He says with a small smile. He’s charming, Akira will give him that. No wonder those interviewers eat him up.

“Yes, I think our discussion on Diogenes was very informative,” Akira wraps his backpack to his front and pulls out a sleepy Morgana.

“Behold! A man!” he says in a sophisticated voice while lifting Morgana like Simba from the lion king.

Akechi snickers at that, which goes straight to Akira’s heart. 

“I’m afraid your cat is not a bipedal plucked chicken, Kurusu Kun,” Akechi comments while still laughing a bit.

“Eh, he’s close enough,” Morgana meows in protest but climbs back into Akira's backpack.

“I thought they didn’t allow animals here though? Is Morgana a service animal?” He looks at Akira with curious intuition.

“Yep, I got him back in high school. The school counselor recommended that I should get one,” Akira says while reaching down in his bag to pet Morgana. “ I transferred away from my home town in my third year, so he thought it’d be good for me to have a pet to keep me company other than my supervisor and his daughter.”

“How interesting,” Akechi says with a smile. Akira can see the cogs turning in his head trying to process all the new information, which is cute in its own right. Maybe Akchi as a whole is just cute, who knows?

“I don’t have any pets of my own, but there are these two birds that like to perch at my window, and I feed them from time to time,” Akechi says casually.

Morgana has poked his head out of the bag in search of his ever-present need for attention, and Akira watches as Akechi pets him with a gloved hand.

“So what did you think of the show?” Akira asked, looking back up from Morgana.

“It was different from what I'm used to. I'll give it that,” he replies contemplatively.

“Different as in good or bad?” He questions with a smirk.

“Hmm, I think differently in a good way. Your instrumentals are always fairly unique with the addition of flute and violin. Your vocals were mostly English, but I think you and Takamaki San did a wonderful job,” he’s holding a finger to his chin and seems to be mulling over every word.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, detective,” Akira responds coyly. 

‘If I am correct you’re the one who wanted to hear flattery in the first place,” he retorts.

“Maybe I was, maybe I just like hearing you talk,” he says with a tilt to his head. 

“Bzzt!” Their conversation is quickly cut short by the sharp buzzing of Akira’s phone.

“Hey, yeah, alright, yeah no worries be there in a minute,” Akira mumbles into his phone.

“Hey, sorry about this but Taba needs a ride home and she doesn’t do well on the subway. So I’m going to have to go. It was nice talking with you though! Oh and we have a Livestream on Halloween night!” he says frantically while rummaging around in his back pocket for his phone. He pulls it out and quickly shows Akechi the digital flyer.

“I, uh, hope to see you there,” he says while stumbling out of the booth, nearly tripping on his boots on his way out.

“Have a good night Kurusu Kun,” Akechi says in an amused tone while watching Akira remember how to walk properly.

\---

When he gets backstage Akira is completely flustered, and is just barely holding together. He was doing so well! And then, of course, one thing sets him off-kilter, and he makes a fool of himself while trying to get out of the booth. Not his best moment.

“ Are you finally done flirting with that detective?” Futaba asks from her bean bag chair she brings every time.

“I am now thanks to you,” He sends her a glare of contempt. Although he doubts she sees it under her curtain of orange hair.  
“You know Akira something tells me that being a wanted criminal and flirting with a detective isn’t going to end well for you or him,” Futaba says while sitting up from her bean bag throw.

“Well maybe you should look at it from a less pessimistic view and be happy for me, that he’s responding to the flirting unlike the last couple of times,” Akira retorts.

Akira never really got the chance to date anyone back in high school. With his assault charge, moving cities, being known as a delinquent, working five different jobs, and exposing rotten adults he was a bit preoccupied. Once he got into university though, he let his more flirtatious side shine. Now just because he flirted with people doesn’t mean it went anywhere and if it did it didn’t last more than a few months.

Which was kind of sad but Akira learned to get over it. If anything not dating anyone made it easier to hang out with the group. Which then of course lead to various shenanigans like getting his ears pierced, or a tattoo, creating a band, and robbing people and exposing their crimes. Which are all great bonding exercises.

In college, he was even able to talk with Yu some more. Which was the only family member he was talking to since highschool. He didn’t like thinking about Inaba that much anymore. It was a little rural town in the middle of nowhere in Japan. The most notable thing about it being a stake shop and flower shop that had just about every flower possible.

He had worked at the daycare during his second year but had quit that winter. After that, it was only a few months till the incident happened. Then he left, leaving a reputation behind. Things got worse and then better. Akira likes to compare that year to a roller coaster. But he has not been to Inaba since. He technically has been to Tatsumi port island with the group, but he was not seeking out anyone there.

“Anyway, into the mona bus with you.” Akira gestured to Futaba while he was picking up the last of their supplies.

And with that, they headed to the van. Akira has stopped getting deja vu after doing this so many times. Loading up supplies, taking Futaba home, and then crashing at his apartment has all become a nice schedule. At least there is something stable he can cling to now.

This early in the morning, Akira was not expecting a phone call from Ann. She typically was at work right now. It was strange that she would be on her phone. But he answered anyway it would be rude not to.

“Hey Akira, it’s Ann. So I got some news that my director wants my group to have a big autumn lineup this year. Once Halloween is over he says November is a great time to get pictures outside. But instead of doing it in Tokyo, he wants to take them somewhere rustic. Which is great and all but I don't know why he doesn’t just get a scene staged but whatever.  
He had a few places picked out already and Inaba was on the list of possibilities, and I totally freaked out and said I have a friend who used to live there, so of course he started asking me to find places to take photos, and I couldn't just say no. So I was wondering if you knew a good place for rustic photos or whatever.” 

Ann’s voice was speedy and quick in delivering that info-dump, she seemed frantic and like she was panicking quite a lot.

“Hey, Ann. Yeah, no worries about Inaba. The place has plenty of shrines, fields, and trees to take photos in, I'll send you some links to a hotel you guys can stay in and text you some good spots that’d be good for photos. There are a few shops you may like down there as well.“

“Oh my god thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver. Sorry for springing this onto you this early in the morning. I'll totally make up for it asap.” she sounded relieved.

“Yeah, no problem anytime I’m going to head back to bed. Have a good day,” he says with a yawn.

“You too, Akira.” 

Just when he thought he had gotten away from Inaba, it comes crawling back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, a comment, or criticism is always welcome, I’d also love to answer any questions that you have! Thank you! have a good day ❤️
> 
> *also little note, Akira calls Akechi a ‘purple calla lily’ the meaning of this flower is typically charm or passion, so Akira basically called him charming


	10. Sedona

\----  
Inaba, Inaba, Inaba.

That is what has been running through Akira’s head for the whole day. He’d been thinking of places Ann could visit, or where her group could take photos. Other than the shrines and open fields there wasn’t much to Inaba’s name other than steaks and beef bowls. Akira doubts they’d be able to eat that much food in one sitting anyway.

Other than the string of serial murders a few years ago nothing much happens in Inaba. Honestly, he doesn’t get why Yu stays there. It really couldn’t be that entertaining working crime scene investigation in a place where there's hardly any crime.

But Inaba is rural and that was Ann’s director’s reasoning for choosing it anyway. Some nice trees north of the fields wouldn’t be a bad spot. The shops were homey enough to take some photos. Akira supposed having so many high-end models from Tokyo would shake things up in the small town. Hell the last good bit of drama they got, that he knows of, was the incident before his third year.

Me(2:47): Alright Ann, I have a couple of locations you can look at and ask your director about. I did consider that Inaba is a ‘cozy’ town to say the least, so they might be startled by the sudden presence of models from Tokyo that have been on the front covers for months.  
Ann(4:49): Akira you saint. Omg, I can’t thank you enough. I’m super sorry about accidentally volun-telling you to do his, I’ll make it up to you with a movie night, or trying out a new restaurant with you, or anything you’d like <3

Akira hadn’t thought of anything yet, he’d been caught up with thinking about his hometown. He decides the best way to clear his head is some good old guitar practice. Picking his acoustic guitar from the mount on the wall he begins to strum any song that comes to mind. 

Acoustic had never been as energizing as an electric for him. Akira had always used it to calm down or occupy his time. Mona seemed to like the softer strums as well, even if he was a punk rock cat at heart.

Drifting off in his mind still thinks of Inaba, but nothing directly, just the thoughts of flowers in a shop that used to feel so much like home, and a smile he hasn’t seen in so long.

\---  
This live stream is going to go off without a hitch. Futaba had been working tirelessly to make sure the connection would be top-notch. As well as managing the instruments and camera till their performance was immaculate. Akira thinks she might have also bought new strings for everyone, just in case. Lord knows where she found the money to do that.

The attic of Leblanc was ready for their Halloween jam session. Futaba and Mona were already up there in costume, and Akira had just finished with the last customer for the night while also being in costume.

Just as he finished wiping down the counter Ann had burst through with Shiho in tow with a big bag full of snacks and drinks. Shiho was giggly as Ann ran around the back of the counter to fly tackle Akira.

“Happy Halloween you gothic bastard!” she shouted joyfully which only led to Shiho laughing harder. Ann was already in her costume as well. She and Shiho had come as an Angel and devil pair and had already taken a full photoshoot for their respective social media accounts.

“Happy Halloween to you as well, Ann. Good evening, Shiho,” He commented casually, still being suffocated in Ann’s death grip of a hug.

“Hello, Akira. From what I hear from Ann this is going to be the ‘coolest Livestream performance I’ll ever see in my life’ or that’s what she said at least.” she gives a little wave of her hand and nods in Ann’s general direction.

“Well I hope so, I don’t think Futaba has slept for more than four hours this whole week,” Akira says, finally being freed from Ann’s prison of a hug.

“I’ve gotten a few thirty-minute power naps today,” Futaba shouts from upstairs, mona meows in response. “I also drank like three energy sodas in one sitting,” she adds casually.

“Futaba, there’s no way that's good for you,” Ann comments worriedly heading in the general direction of the stairs.

“Live fast, die young, is what they say,”

“Futaba, No!” Ann replies in a worried tone, but Akira can tell she’s amused. 

\---  
By the time everyone gets to Leblanc the attic is filled with people and instruments. Yusuke is admiring the costumes while also eating the potato chips shaped like ghosts. Makoto is playing various Halloween songs on her keyboard while Mona tries to jump up on one of the keys. 

“Alright, everybody! Happy Halloween. It's time for the Phantom thieves' ultimate Halloween Livestream! I am your host Oracle and I am here with my co-hosts Fox and Mona. Digital displays are courtesy of us, and of course, our musical display is by Joker, Panther, Skull, Noir, and Queen!”

Futaba’s full of energy and fits perfectly in whatever game show host persona she’s going for. To be honest it’s probably all the energy drinks.

“We’ll start in just a few minutes so everyone can join us, but while we wait I’ll have Inari discuss these wonderful costumes.”

“Ah, yes well you see-”

Yusuke goes on about the design process for a bit while everyone gets situated with the instruments and people join the stream.

“Are you ready?” Futaba says on cue.

“3, 2, 1, Hit it!”

\---

Goro has to admit he doesn’t typically have enough time to watch live streams or listen to hour-long podcasts. Today, however, seems to be an exception to that. He finds himself swamped in free time this afternoon. So he finds himself logging on to watch the Phantom Thieves live stream performance.

Immediately he was blown away by the quality of the camera filming the Thieves. He’s also immediately blasted with a heavy guitar solo that echoes through the apartment. His eyes are drawn to Kurusu who’s in the middle hitting the cords on his guitar with fever.

And then his voice cuts in. It's deep and rich in its baritone, and it cuts across his guitar's strings like butter. Goro has never heard this song before and finds himself entranced. Noir’s flute comes in gracefully and adds the mesmerizing sound. The song feels smooth as honey but the words are darker, louder, and violent. It’s incredible and it leaves Goro’s mouth hanging open.

When the song ends it feels resolute and complete, like the perfect ending to a story. It instantly won over Goro’s top song list. After that, he’s dying to hear more.

“Alright! That was ‘Warden’ a little sample for our new album coming out called ‘A Blue Velvet Room’” Oracle’s voice cuts across the stream, they're wearing a cat-like grin and typing a few things into the chat. The chat itself seems very excited for this new album. Goro can’t blame them, if that was only a sample who knows what the entire thing would sound like.

The next couple of songs were no less impressive, but they were all previous singles or other songs from their previous album “ A Grand Memento”. Being so caught up in their music Goro almost forgets they are major suspects for a string of robberies and information leaks. But he much rather listens to music than think of that nightmare of a case.

He has the stream playing loudly in the background while he starts up his dinner consisting of leftover take out from the night before. He starts up some tea while waiting on the microwave to finish heating his food. The stream goes song to song with occasional commentary from Oracle or Fox. Sometimes even Kurusu’s cat pops into meow at the chat.

Goro pulls out the copy of the case file he has in his apartment and skims over most of the information. The most recent witness statement was from himself from the night of the most recent heist. A long-haired brunette and a man coated in full black. Looking at the stream none of the members match the description of long brown hair. Their pianist has a short bob. That could mean she had got it cut or had been wearing a wig.

Anyone male could be cloaked in black for that matter. The rag with chloroform didn’t show any DNA. Gloves get rid of that problem much too easily. The investigation had tried tracking down the painting that had been stolen. It had ended up with the original creator and did not have any new DNA on it.

Subject profiles were taking some shape at least. Early to late twenties, female and male, long brown hair, and have a basic understanding of chemicals and DNA transfer. That doesn’t even cover the whole group, and most certainly not how they gain access to the major information leaks.

Even in his free time, this case had been eating him up a whole lot, what a mess. He continues to enjoy the stream for now. Any children in his apartment complex might come around trick-or-treating in an hour or so. He figures now is a better time than ever to put out some candy for them and feed the two birds if they are at the window. 

\----  
Akira has just almost finished the last song for the night. The stream had been a huge turnout, to say the least. Futaba had been managing chat. She and Yusuke have been having a field day with responses and hosting. Ann has been showing off a little extra for Shiho, who finds her attempts at impressing her as hilarious. 

Ryuji nearly broke a drum stick twice in one sitting and is sweating buckets. Haru and Makoto are stretching their hands and arms out while giggling about something. Akira feels great. The adrenaline still hums through him and he is wearing a stupid grin. One of his best performances yet.

A small voice in the back of his head kept hoping Akechi had tuned into the stream. He decides not to smother that thought this time and just heads over to Ryuji instead.

“That was effin awesome dude, did you see me, man?! I was totally on fire!” Ryuji says excitedly.

“Think it was our best set yet?” Akira questions leaning on one of the stools.

“You bet your ass it was! Ann nearly broke her strings, and I don't know if Haru will be able to breathe the same after that, but it was wicked as hell, man!” He's smiling ear to ear and stretching out his arms as well.

“Well, I don't know about you but I'm going to sleep till noon, Sunday,” Akira says as he practically melts over the stool like a cat in the sun.

“We’ve got that interview thing tomorrow though, right?” Ryuji questions.

“I doubt Ohya will mind if we’re a little late, and if she does I’ll buy her a round to make up for it,” he says nonchalantly.

“I don’t even know how you meet half the people you know sometimes, man,” Ryuji huff’s out exhaustedly. 

\----

So it turns out Ohya didn’t mind if they showed up late.  
“Hey, Hey! Look at you superstar!” she calls out from her spot in the booth, with a drink in hand as well as a pen and paper.  
“Het Ohya! Lala Chan,” he says with a nod in her direction, he gets a curt hand wave in response.

“Oh boy looks like the whole group is with you this time,” she comments to herself with a swig of her drink and a smile. “Masks and everything huh?”

“Alright, everyone! I’m going to assume you know proper interview edict so please, don't speak too fast, and don't talk over each other if possible,” She gets a round of nods in response.

“Okay! We’ve all heard the news about your new album “A Blue Velvet Room”. Do you have a release date planned?’ she says in her work voice with a smile.

“We are hoping to release it on New years eve, but it might get delayed a bit due to external issues revolving around our work schedules.” Akira comments in response.

“Wonderful! Do you have any plans for this album style?” Ohya reads off her next question.

“Ahh, we were hoping to give it a darker and heavier feeling with more orchestral interludes. Think maybe punk-choir,” Haru remarks with a finger on her chin.

“Yep, Noir’s right. Now that we’re more comfortable with incorporating the flute and violin we wanted to bring it in more,” Ann says enthusiastically.

“Excellent, now your fans want to know. What made you choose the name “Phantom thieves”, and how do you feel about the criminal group with the same name?”

“If I am correct the name was chosen by just throwing nouns into a hat and selecting a few then voting on the most interesting. As for the criminal group, I'm afraid we were quite upset when we heard about our name being muddled by these degenerates,” Yusuke comments with faux disappointment.

“So the rumors about the band being criminals is false?”

“Yes, like we’ve mentioned before we have no association with criminal behavior, the only reason people assume we do is because of our name that was taken,” Makoto answers sternly.

“I see, very interesting. From your live stream on Halloween night you played a sample from your new album called “Warden” is there any direct inspiration for the song?”

“Oh not really, man. Joker and I were just practicing one night and we ended up with a sound we liked, wrote it down, and added Noir, Queen, and Panther’s bits into it. Oracle just spiced it up a bit,” Ryuji remarks nonchalantly.

“Yep, the meaning is pretty clear in the lyrics. It's just about a warden punishing their inmates in a sadistic manner,” Akira says while fiddling with his ear-piercing. 

“Alright. Is there any reason for the code names and masks?” 

“They’re just used to protect our identity from the public so we don't get harassed. There was more of a need for it after the robberies started happening and people thought we were crooks,” Ann says, resting her cheek in her palm, nails clicking against her mask.

“People have described your music sound as “indie punk” what’s your opinion on that?”

“I mean I think it fits pretty well,” Futaba responds with a shrug.

“Yep pretty accurate, man,” Ryuji shrugs alongside Futaba.

“ Alrighty, your fans asked, “ is there any reason for the costume designs?” A good one don’t you think?” Ohya asks.

“The costumes are supposed to reflect the masks and code names. Most of the design work was done by Panther and Fox. I paid a close friend of mine to sew them for us and she did a wonderful job. So they’re kind of a hodgepodge of various designs but they bring the group as a whole together,” Akira states proudly.

“ I see how interesting. Do you have any last things you want to mention before we finish?’

“ Nothing that we can’t tell you till a little longer. Somethings gotta stay a surprise,” Akira puts a finger to his lips and makes a small ‘shh’ sound and winks.

“ Well, that is all for Coolest Magazine’s Big Scoop!” Ohya comments with a big fake smile. When she finishes she takes a large swig of her drink in victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, a comment, or criticism is greatly appreciated! Feel free to ask any questions!


	11. Too close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann in Inaba, what crimes will she commit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey heads up! We have some new POVs outside of Akira and Goro in this chapter!  
> Most of it is Ann but we do get a brief moment of Yu!

‘New album!’ inside look and interview! Phantom thieves a new hit group!” was plastered on the new issue of Coolest Magazine. Big gaudy text surrounds a large group photo of Akira and the rest of the Thieves. Other side stories are put to the side while Ohya’s interview was the main focus.

“Well I always knew I’d be on the front covers, but it’s good to see you made it there too,” Ann teases.   
Akira, Ann, and Shiho were all waiting at the train station when Ann’s train to Inaba came to pick her and the rest of the group of models up. Magazines of the Phantom Thieves interview were front and center. Glossy covers highlighting the gossip between each page.

“All right, be honest, how vain would it be for me to get a copy just to look at the interview?” Ann asks, picking one up already. It was pretty clear she was going to buy one regardless of the response she got.

“I think you should think of it as ‘encapsulating the memory’ rather than buying it for vanity’s sake,” Shiho commented cheerfully.

“Exactly! This is why you’re my favorite,” Ann jokes with a big grin. She slings an arm around Shiho’s shoulder.

“God, I'm going to miss you so much,” she whines.

“You’re only going to be gone for a week. You’re not even leaving the country this time you’re just going to the outskirts of Akia’s hometown, and we’re going to call every night,” Shiho responds with a small exasperated grin. 

“Ann, I think you’re a little old for separation anxiety,” Akira says, poking fun at her.

“Says the guy who can’t leave his apartment without his cat,” she sticks out her tongue in a childish manner. There is meowing in retaliation from Akira’s bag.

“But seriously, I'm going to miss you two so much. Sometimes those other girls need a reality check, I'm going to miss not having two sane people around,” she huffs out.

“Well, last time I was there at least, there were a few sane people in Inaba. There’s a nice lady who runs a textile shop and another one who sells some good tofu on the main shopping street if that will help you any,” Akira responds.

“Thanks, Akira. Oh! Looks like the train is here! I’ll see you guys soon!” She quickly ruffles Akira’s mop of hair and tightly hugs Shiho and gives her a little peck on the cheek. She waves as she runs off the other group of girls getting on the train.

\---

Inaba was quiet. That’s the best way to describe it. No one spoke too loudly or did anything outrageous. All in all, it was tight knit and calm. Nothing major had happened for about three years. Only small petty crimes now and again. Weddings happened every so often, which usually brought along a good mood throughout the town.

But right now Inaba was getting louder. Which only meant one thing: gossip. Such a small town where barely anything happened was bound to get noisy with the possibility of something new. That’s why when his parents came to town with three sons and began working as a florist and detective, there was a large stirring in the town. And when the string of murders took place, they were treated more like a celebrity coming to town rather than crimes.

And of course the incident with Akira. Instantly branded him as a criminal and his parents as poor fathers who didn’t know how to raise responsible children. Akira hardly speaks to anyone but him in the family. He spoke to aunt Maya for a little while last year when she was in Tokyo, but other than that, radio silence.

Minato was never talkative so Yu assumes that Dad and Pops were expecting him to be a little quieter when he moved out, but not Akira. No one expected Akira to be so quiet. Akira was always energetic and playful as a child. He enjoyed exploring and learning about anything. He and Pops would talk about flowers and plants for hours.

So watching it all disappear in an instant was terrifying. Yu knows Dad and Pops blame themselves for the most part. They wouldn’t let Dad onto the case when he found out, and Pops couldn’t do anything about the rumors at school.

But the good thing that came out of all of this was that Akira got to start over in Tokyo. No connections to anyone or anything. He found new friends and family that care about him like before the incident happened.

But no one in Inaba cared about that old gossip anymore. There was a new buzz in town. Models from Tokyo, or something along those lines. Akira had said that his friend Takamaki was coming, so Yu assumes that there’s some basis for the rumors.

And just like that a bunch of picture ESC. Models and crew step out of the train Monday afternoon. One with bouncy blond pigtails is immediately noticeable as Takamaki San. The rest of them he’s seen before on covers of magazines or clothing catalogs.

“See big bro I told you they were coming,” Nanako says jokingly. During his second year, he ended up helping take care of her while her dad was busy with the serial killer case. Dojima had been a close family friend since they moved to Inaba and he was more than happy to help.

“Seems you were right again, Nanako,” they're having a small lunch in the Junes food court. Her high school was having trouble with power. And with everything being dark and the heaters not working they sent the kids home early with some homework and textbooks.

“One of them is Ann Takamaki. She’s super popular in Tokyo since she has blonde hair and blue eyes, and supposedly super nice,” Nakako comments excitedly.

“I think I've met her before,” Yu says nonchalantly.

“What! When?” Nanako shouts, her chopsticks almost fall out of her grip. Her eyes go huge in curiosity.

“She’s a friend of Akira’s. I met her when Yosuke and I went to Tokyo for a few days,” Yu says with a shift in expression.

“Really?! You met one of the most popular models in Tokyo, and you didn’t tell me?!” Nanako seems a bit too shocked to be fully mad at him.

“I knew she modeled, but I didn't know she was this popular,” He says, still not changing his expression.

“What was she like? Is she as friendly as she is in interviews? How does Akira know her?” Nanako fires off questions without a breath in between.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, one question at a time. Akira knows her because they were in the same class in high school and they go to the same college. She was pretty friendly and fun,” Yu says shoving another octo-dog from his bento in his mouth.

“Do you think I could get her autograph?” Nanako questions in amazement.

”I don’t see why you couldn’t,”

Nanako’s eyes are practically filled with sparkles at this point.

“Ok, on another note. Did you see the live stream the Phantom Thieves did on Saturday?” she asks after eating a few of her bell peppers.

“Yep, I tuned in for a little bit,” he responds.

“It was so good! They’re going to release a new album soon! And they interviewed with Coolest Magazine! They’re like one of the biggest companies in Japan!” Nanako seems to be extremely passionate about everything happening.

They finish up their lunch and head back to Dojima’s house to play some board games till he gets home.

\---

Now, something about going somewhere new meant trying every food there. But usually, that food would get divided and conquered by a group of people willing to eat. And models are known to be stingy with their diets.

This leads Ann into a predicament. There is no way in hell she is going to eat most of Inaba's food in one sitting by herself knowing how much beef is in it. She’s never had a problem with eating, but she knows when too much is ‘too much’. Which was a real problem because of course the beef bowls and stakes had to look so good.

Luckily enough Akira mentioned there is a place with tofu. It isn’t too hard to buy a few vegetables and sauce to go with it, so tofu it is. 

A small shop down the street. Bingo! An older woman is working near the back of the shop and a girl a little older than her stands near the counter.

“Hello, do you need help finding anything?” The woman at the counter asks. Her badge says ‘Hello my name is: Rise Kujikawa.’

“Ah, yes I just need ¼ pound of tofu please,” Ann asks politely.

“Sure thing. You’re using this for a quick dinner I assume?” Kujikawa San asks.

“Ah, yep. I have to have some fairly light meals throughout this week, and a friend of mine recommended this place for tofu,” She responds casually.

“You’re one of the models from Tokyo right?” She asks while wrapping the tofu up neatly.

“Mhm, yep! We’re only going to be here for a week, but a friend of mine used to live here so he recommended a bunch of places for me,” she chats cheerfully.

“I remember when I used to model back in high school. Tofu became my best friend since everyone wanted to make sure I stayed thin,” she comments in a joking tone.

“Oh, you modeled?” Ann wasn’t too surprised, She was gorgeous. Dark red hair, a perfect smile, she even seems to hold herself in the same manner.

“Yep, for a little while at least. I quit since I wanted to come back here and just go to school, so that's what happened,” she sounds oddly nostalgic.

“That’s wonderful. I’m glad you found what makes you happy. Thank you for the tofu, have a good day,” She says cheerfully while paying her for the food.

Ann walks out of the shop with her bag in hand. She starts humming a J-pop tune that comes into her head as she leaves.

Inaba is pretty breezy for early November. The wind blows trees and tall grass around widely, as well as her two pigtails. She can see what Akira means by this place being ‘cozy’. It's primarily made up of a shopping district, a residential area, and then the open fields. The trees are already bright reds and oranges. It’s just cold enough to be considered autumn.

“Grocery store, Grocery store…” Ann mumbles to herself. “It can’t be that far, can it?” she asks herself.

Walking up the main road seems to be her best bet when she sees the tall building of Junes standing proud up ahead.   
Fluorescent light feels all too familiar as she steps in. The place smells like fried food and sugar. Probably since she entered through the food court. They could hardly fit giant stores like these in Tokyo, they’d usually have the floors stacked upon each other. Having it all on ground level made it feel even bigger than it was.

But she’s done stealth missions through air vents, tiny hallways, and on top of chandeliers. A grocery store was not going to break her. While her head is still on the topic of heist she shoots a text to the group chat.

Me (3:26): Did we have anything major planned this week?  
Akira(3:26): Taba’s gathering info on a movie director with alleged sexual assault and Fox and Skull had a small embezzlement case they were going sort out.   
Taba(3:27): Yep, if all goes well, calling card out for Fox and Skull by Wednesday heist done by Saturday  
Haru(3:27): I’m assisting Futaba with some more groundwork. I’ll be asking the employees for any info they have, while she completes her research.  
Yusuke(3:28): Skull and I should be complete with our exit and entry route by the evening.   
Skull(3:28): he’s just some small fry. Security should be a breeze!  
Me(3:28): Good to know!

“Ex-Excuse me?” a small voice stutters from the side of Ann it snaps her attention back to the store around her. Looking up she sees a girl most likely in her first year of high school. Her short brown hair is tied back in two low ponytails.

“Oh! Hi there. Do you need anything?” Ann asks in a preppy tone of voice.

“Are you um, Ann Takamaki?” she asks looking down at her feet.

“Yep, that’s me.” Ann smiles with a tilt to her head.

“I-I was wondering if I could get your autograph. I’m a really big fan of your work and honestly, I didn’t believe the rumors when they said you and the other models were coming this week,” she says sheepishly.

“Oh and Autograph? Sure thing. I have a pen around here somewhere. What is it you want me to sign?” she replies.

“Really!? Um just my copy of your summer lineup from this year,” she answers.

“Oh yeah, the summer ones are always some of my favorites too,” she comments.

The girl hands her the magazine, laminated pages slightly stick to the finger pads. Ann grabs her pan and sign’s her name with a flourish and makes the dots of her i’s heart-shaped.

“Here you go!”She says with a smile as she hands back the magazine.

“Th-thank you so much!” she nearly shouts in response.

Ann can’t help but smile. She was just like that when she started modeling with all the girls she looked up to. Nostalgia hits her like a wave as she navigates her way to fruits and vegetables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, a comment, or criticism is greatly appreciated ❤️
> 
> Feel free to ask me anything 
> 
> Come yell at me on Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sleep-deprived-onion


	12. Squaring Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner date

____\

Now don’t get her wrong, it was fun to travel to new places. But there were already enough regulations with work, and traveling with a bunch of hungry bitchy models is not fun. So when Ann finally gets a break she bolts.

She figured some fresh air would do her some good. The rooms were always stuffy with perfume and powders. So off she went! Luckily, Inaba had plenty of little picnic benches around the rural area, and with the nice weather, it was perfect. She took a seat at a cozy-looking one and let her muscles relax. She took out her phone to check up on the rest of the group back in Tokyo.

Futaba had sent the finished map for Ryuji and Yusuke’s heist, as well as a varying degree of memes. They weren’t kidding when they said it would be an easy one, they didn’t even need to use the vents. Lucky bastards. Well, that might be for the better, Ryuji isn’t known for being quiet. 

Akira had sent something about looking into the new detective they had assigned more recently. But Ann knew “looking into” probably meant checking out, and not in a professional way. Say what you want, but she is a hopeless romantic. She can see the goo-goo eyes Akira makes at him from miles away. 

She’s not totally against the idea though. From what she’s seen in interviews the detective is smart, friendly, and unfairly pretty. If it wasn’t for the fact law enforcement was involved, Ann would be all gung-ho about it. It seems Akira is already pretty ‘gung-ho’ about it though.

But law enforcement has already proven its loyalty to Akira, so she’ll keep an eye out. But besides all that, Futaba has gotten all the information leaks and links ready the second Yusuke and Ryuji get out of the building. 

It’s kind of freaky that with just a few posts here and there and heavy hinting to the police a person’s whole life could be flipped upside down. Luckily there was fieldwork, and if you ask Ann it’s the best part. Sure computers could get a person so far, but actually going in and doing it yourself was just exhilarating.

She knows she’s not the only one who feels that way either. Akira really gets into the fun of the chase. Hopefully, not enough that he gets so caught up with it, that he gets caught.

____

Sae’s case has been going along wonderfully. With all the charges accumulated all Goro has to do is finish his statements and interview for the case. Which would not take terribly long if he got a good time slot. He won’t say it out loud but the information leaks were quite useful.

He finishes up with a good portion of the paperwork he needs to be done before leaving around four o’clock. He’s debating whether he should go home or to the jazz jin when he gets a few text messages. Hopefully, he didn’t leave anything important at the station. But usually, Sae would just give it to him the next day?

Well, luckily that’s not the issue anyway. What he got instead was an invitation from Kurusu.

Kurusu(4:47): Hey, was wondering if you wanted to meet up someplace for an early dinner today?

Well, this was a first. His relationship with Kurusu had been mainly talking over text and meeting at a few shows. This was the first time Kurusu wanted to meet outside of that. Goro wasn't opposed, it had been forever since he had last had dinner out with someone. It would also solve the problem of his conflicting destination troubles for tonight.

Me(4:48): Sure, what place did you have in mind?  
Kurusu(4:48): just a small diner from where I go to school. They’ve got pretty good steaks.

Steaks? Didn’t sound half bad if you asked him. Most real food would be better than the instant noodles he had back home. Sae might have said something along the lines of Goro needing more iron or how protein would be good for him after dealing with paperwork. Goro doesn’t know the validity of either imaginary statement. He doubts that imaginary Sae does either.

Kurusu sends him a time and address for the little dinner. Goro looked into it a bit more, Kurusu wasn’t kidding. It was very close to a local college and very popular with the college student crowd. He couldn’t help feeling a soft buzzing excitement to meet and talk with Kurusu again.

\---

He’s still in his button-up, coat, and slacks when he gets there. His hair is slightly askew from the subway ride over. He wasn't a huge fan of subways. Always too many people in one area for his liking. But it’s necessary so he bears with it anyway.

Stepping into the restaurant he’s hit with the smell of fried foods and the sound of people conversing. He spots Kurusu’s black mop of hair from both tucked into the corner. His cat Morgana is seated in his lap pawing at Kurusu’s straw wrapper.

“Good evening, Kurusu,” He says politely, taking a seat across from him in the booth. 

“Same here, Akechi,” He says with a small smile.

“I’m glad you asked me here. I’m afraid I haven’t had the chance to get dinner with anyone in a while,”

“Really? I would assume otherwise.”

“And what is that supposed to imply, Kurusu?”

“Nothing, I just think someone as pretty as you would get asked out more often,” He says, with that stupid smirk. Akechi immediately blushes at the stupid pick-up line.

“Trying to woo me already, Kurusu? I haven’t even sat down for five minutes,” He chokes out, trying to cover up his blush.

“What can I say? I like what I see, ``he says in a joking tone.

“I would tell you to ask me to dinner first, but it seems you beat me to it,” Goro responds.

Morgana seems to meow in annoyance at their antics. Luckily the waitress came to take their drink orders, so Morgana was saved from their shameless flirting for now.

“I don’t mean to come off as rude, but I would like to know why you asked to meet up in person?” Goro asks as politely as he can.

“I had some free time, and figured since we didn’t have any more shows coming up. I wouldn’t get to see you. So meeting in person was an easy option,” Kurusu responds happily.

“Ah, I’m glad you thought of spending your free time with me. I know a lot of college students are very busy,” Goro responds.

“Speaking of that, are you a college student? You’re just a year older than me right?” Kurusu asks, twisting his straw.

“Ah yes, I take online courses since they are considerably easier to manage with my work schedule,” 

“Makes sense. Hard to investigate if you are stuck in a classroom,” He says matter-of-factly

“If you don’t mind me asking, I was interested in how your band started. Your group is still fairly new, so it must have been a stroke of luck to get this popular,” Goro inquires.

“Ah, when I transferred over for my third year I made a couple of friends out of the hooligans in my classes. Two members had already graduated, that'd be queen and Noir, and they were working as teaching assistants. Somehow we managed to befriend them as well. Fox is an interesting case though, he went to a different school. He was putting up modeling jobs for a major art project, and panther and I took it,” Kurusu rambled.

“After that, we all were in our first or second year of college, Oracle was in her second year of high school still, and we just started fooling around with our instruments and realized we sounded good. Oracle was able to get some of the first songs online, they did well enough so we started small gigs till we were here,” he finishes.

“Fascinating, I am surprised that most of your friends know how to play an instrument though,” Goro comments.

“Well most of us picked it up as a way of venting I guess. Skull says “it's better to push out all your frustration on the drums instead of other people.” This is really profound compared to his usual stuff, but he has a point,”

“I do see his reasoning. I don’t mean to prod but why do you use codenames?” Goro asks, with curiosity.

“Don’t worry about it, you're not the first to ask that. We just don’t want to be harassed. With the criminal group of the same name, people are bound to think we commit the crimes. So not sharing our names or faces is just protection from that, Of course, it’s not impossible to find our names and stuff, but it is more out of the way,” Kurusu answers.

“I understand. I’m sorry to hear that the bad PR from the criminal group is rubbing off onto you though,” Goro says sympathetically.

“Ah, it's fine, if all we have to do is hide our faces and names, then it’s a small price to pay. And what is the saying “Any press is good press,” Kurusu offers?

“I suppose you make a strong argument, Kurusu,”

“Ah hey, I know we’ve only known each other for a little while, but Akira is fine. Mostly everyone calls me that anyway. You don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable though,” he requests.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, Akira,’ Goro says with a grin. He can see Akira bush a little at that. Payback. 

“Oh looks like food is here,” Akira says, snapping Goro’s attention to the waiter with their tray. He had personally ordered the stake, taking in Akira’s recombination. Akira had gotten an American-style burger and fries. Speaking of fries, it appears Morgana is being fed some at the moment.

“I spoil him rotten, yet he still dares to complain and whine for food back at my apartment,” Akira comments

“You’ll find, the more you give the more they tend to want,” Goro adds on.

“Personal experience?”

“Hmm?” Goro hums in question.

“Did you learn that from a personal experience?” He elaborates.

“Ah, something like that,” Goro responds in faux wistfulness.

They eat in comfortable silence for a little bit. Passing questions back and forth. Goro’s enjoying this. He doesn’t tend to spend time with people his age, so just talking to someone besides Sae is nice. Akira doesn’t talk down to him either like most of the higher officers at work.

It could also be that Akira’s charm is getting to him. But who wouldn’t give in to the shameless flirting and genuine interest? Maybe Goro shouldn’t be getting close with a suspect for major robberies. But it’s hard to imagine Akira as anything but the charming, down-to-earth musician, who takes his cat everywhere.  
\----

Okay so maybe meeting up for dinner with a detective that is looking to but Akira and friends behind bars were not the smartest of plans. But neither was falling for the detective’s cute laugh or curious look he gives when he’s thinking. Plus, when has Akira been smart enough to think things through to the end?

Akira is probably royally screwed. He can’t bring himself to care though. Akechi is just interesting to be around. His gestures, his thought process, his reasoning. If Ann was here she would have told him he was falling hard.

But right now it’s just him and Akechi. No Ann, no Phantom Thieves, no older brothers, and no parents. Just Akira enjoying the moment without consequence. Sure it's probably not the right thing for him to do. But it’s probably not right to break into CEO’s homes and rob them.

Maybe if they weren’t unknowing adversaries, Akira wouldn’t be as hesitant to brush Akechi’s gloved hand as he opened the door to the busy sidewalk out of the restaurant. Maybe he wouldn’t be so hesitant to ask Akechi to meet up again sometime. Maybe he wouldn’t be so hesitant to look him straight in the eyes.

But maybe, if that was the case, Akechi wouldn’t have said yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, a comment, or criticism is greatly appreciated 💜


End file.
